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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27989178">The Secret Deal</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vigilant_Schemer/pseuds/Vigilant_Schemer'>Vigilant_Schemer</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Gravity Falls</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angry Dipper Pines, Angry Mabel Pines, Asexual Bill Cipher, Badass Dipper Pines, Bill Cipher Being Bill Cipher, Bill Teaches Dipper Magic, Bill gives him a hug, Bill is a little shit, Bisexual Dipper Pines, Confident Dipper Pines, Dark Dipper Pines, Dipper Distrusts his Family, Dipper Likes Singing, Dipper Pines Needs A Hug, Dipper Pines is Called Mason, Dipper Pines is a Dork, Dipper is a Little Shit, Emotional Hurt, Episode: s01e19 Dreamscaperers, Feral Behavior, Fluff and Angst, Gideon Gleeful Being A Jerk, Gideon Gleeful Is A Creep, Gideon notices something off with Dipper, He does not like crowds, He notices something off with Dipper, Human Bill Cipher, Hurt Dipper Pines, Hurt/Comfort, Learning Magic, M/M, Magic, Magic Dipper Pines, Magic-Users, Memory Magic, Minor Character Death, Nonbinary Character, Oblivious Mabel Pines, Possessive Bill Cipher, Powerful Dipper, Protective Bill Cipher, Protective Dipper Pines, She doesn't notice the change in Dipper, Stan Pines is Bad at Feelings, Star Blessed Dipper, Teenage Dipper Pines and Mabel Pines, Teenage Gideon Gleeful, Unrequited Gideon Gleeful/Mabel Pines, Violence, but dismisses it, eventually, he just has a human form, kind of</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 18:00:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>23,854</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27989178</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vigilant_Schemer/pseuds/Vigilant_Schemer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>How would the tale have gone if a deal had been made in the mind of a con?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bill Cipher/Dipper Pines, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Pyronica/OC</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>434</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Deal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“The kid’s a loser. He’s weak! He’s an utter embarrassment! I just wanna get rid of him” </p><p>Frustrated tears dripped down Dippers face as he closed the door and sunk to the floor, he was right Stan did hate him. He was just like everyone else, they all loved Mabel but wished he didn’t exist. </p><p>“I told you you might see something you’d regret” Bill drawled as he appeared before Dipper who just glared up at him angrily. </p><p>“Will you just leave me alone?” Dipper growled as he scrubbed at his eyes and Bill tilted his body thoughtfully for a moment before he floated down so that he was closer to the angry brunette. </p><p>“They don’t deserve you Pinetree” He stated seriously and Dipper furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he stared at the demon distrustfully. </p><p>“What do you mean?” He questioned suspiciously and Bill almost seemed to smile with his eye. </p><p>“You have enormous potential Pinetree, potential that is wasted on your so-called family” He revealed almost giddily, Dipper tilted his head slightly as he continued to stare at Bill with suspicion but also curiosity. </p><p>“What do you mean by potential? Potential for what?” He asked and Bill suddenly invaded his space. </p><p>“For magic” He said eagerly and Dipper scowled as he pushed the demon away, his curiosity disintegrating. </p><p>“Yeah sure” He muttered unimpressed and Bill rolled his eye as he reached over and flicked Dipper’s hat up slightly to reveal his birthmark. </p><p>“How common do you think it is to have a constellation for a birthmark?” He asked in a slightly scolding tone of voice that made Dipper furrow his eyebrows in confusion once again. </p><p>“What does my birthmark have to do with anything?” He asked and Bill seemed to grow excited once again. </p><p>“You’ve been blessed by the stars! It’s an extremely rare phenomenon that only happens once in a millennium!” He revealed excitedly and Dipper’s eyes widened as he reached up to trace his birthmark curiously. </p><p>“But this blessing has only increased your already existing magical potential, with the right care you could become the most powerful human alive” Bill continued eagerly and Dipper frowned in uncertainty. </p><p>“Me? Powerful? There’s no way” He dismissed as he looked away which earned him a long-suffering sigh from Bill as he muttered something about stupid humans and their insecurities. </p><p>“You’ve already shown how powerful you are” Bill remarked and Dipper gave him a confused look. </p><p>“What?” He questioned and Bill hummed as he snapped his fingers and an image of Dipper performing the incantation that got him, Mabel and Soos, into Stan’s mind appeared. </p><p>“Do you know how rare it is for someone to get an incantation right on their first attempt? Let alone someone who has never studied magic before?” He asked and Dipper blinked in surprise. </p><p>“But that’s-” He started to say as the image disappeared only to get cut off by Bill turning red.</p><p>“Stop putting yourself down it’s getting on my nerves” He growled and Dipper quickly snapped his mouth shut. Bill huffed as he went back to being yellow. </p><p>“I can teach you you know, help you harness your powers” He offered as he held his hand out and Dipper stared at it suspiciously before he glanced up at Bill with a searching look in his eyes. </p><p>“How do I know I can trust you?” He asked and Bill gave him a deadpanned look. </p><p>“How do you know you can’t?” He challenged and Dipper glanced away from him as he bit his lip thoughtfully. Could he trust Bill? Was learning magic worth whatever risk came with trusting a demon? Or was giving up on this opportunity the safer option? He glanced back at Bill who was staring at him patiently with his hand still held out just waiting for him to shake it. </p><p>“You can really teach me magic?” He asked hesitantly and Bill smiled with his eye. </p><p>“I can teach you everything you could ever want to learn” He replied and Dipper bit his lip once again, he glanced briefly at the door he was leaning against before his resolve hardened. </p><p>“Let’s do it” He said as he reached forward and took Bill hand in his own. Bill’s eye smile seemed to grow as blue flames appeared sealing their deal. As the deal sealed a very faint golden circle appeared around Dipper’s pupils. </p><p>“Will I learn that?” Dipper asked curiously as he observed his uninjured hand, he hadn’t even felt the heat of the flames. Bill chuckled in amusement. </p><p>“That and so much more” He stated and Dipper’s own excitement grew. </p><p>“When do we start?” He asked eagerly and Bill chuckled once again as he floated back up which Dipper followed by standing back up. </p><p>“As soon as we get out of here, are you up for some acting? We got to make my “defeat” look convincing, can’t have Shooting Star and Question Mark getting suspicious” Bill said simply and Dipper raised a curious eyebrow. </p><p>“What about Gideon? I thought he was going to pay you handsomely for getting him the combination to the safe?” He asked and Bill simply scoffed as he crossed his arms. </p><p>“You are far more valuable than anything that half-pint could ever give me” He remarked dryly and a small smile appeared on Dipper’s face as a warm feeling filled his chest at the compliment. </p><p>“Alright what do I have to do?” He asked and Bill smiled with his eye once again, this was going to be fun.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Dipper Questions The Sanity of Those Around Him</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>For the first few chapters, a lot of the dialogue is going to be the same as the show with a few difference here and there until we really get into the story.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Dipper likes to think he did a pretty good job acting as the saviour since Mabel and Soos didn’t suspect a thing and just went along with his plan to “defeat” Bill. After Bill’s cryptic message, which just made him more excited for their lessons, they reappeared in the living room of the Mystery Shack as Stan woke up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We did it!” Mabel cheered excitedly and Dipper resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he glanced down at his finger when he felt a tingling feeling. He blinked a little bit in surprise when he saw a silver ring with a gold triangle appear on his left pointer finger. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What? Did what? What are you all doing here? And why was I dreaming of two brightly coloured and radical young men?” Stan questioned and while Mabel jumped up onto him to hug him excitedly Dipper just stared at the man emotionlessly, he felt a warm almost comforting feeling coming from the ring that made him glance back at it curiously. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m just glad Gideon didn’t get into the safe. I really love this old shack” Mabel said happily as she snuggled closer to Stan who just patted her back with a mildly confused look on his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Group hug!” Soos exclaimed cheerfully which earned him blank looks from everyone else. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No? I never know the right time!” Soos pouted and Dipper felt his lip twitch up in amusement only for it to quickly disappear when the shack started shaking. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, do you guys feel…?” He started to say only to be cut off by an explosion that he was barely able to brace himself for. When the dust settled he saw Gideon standing there with a wide smile on his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, I’m sorry, Pines family. Did I wake you?” Gideon asked mockingly as he relished in their shocked looks, though he was slightly annoyed that Dipper was just staring at him in distaste he should be just as shocked as the rest of his family.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But… we defeated Bill!” Mabel exclaimed in alarm and Dipper glanced away, right they “defeated” him yup that’s totally what happened.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bill failed me! So I switched to plan B: dynamite!” Gideon announced in psychotic cheerfulness and while everyone else stared at Gideon in shock and alarm Dipper glanced down at the ring when he felt it get uncomfortably hot and saw that the gold triangle had turned red before it returned to normal and the heat disappeared. So this thing must be connected to Bill he mused thoughtfully as he returned his attention to Gideon. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What? Bill? Who? What are you guys talking about?” Stan asked baffled which only made Gideon’s grin grow tenfold.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Spoiler alert, Stanford! I’ve got the deed! The Mystery Shack belongs to me! So get out of my property!” He stated with a wide smirk on his face as he waved the deed in their faces, Dipper rolled his eyes in exasperation. There was no way Gideon could get away with this legally, this is not how the transfer of ownership worked. </span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Well apparently Gideon could get away with this becomes this town was filled with absolute morons who made him want to rip his hair out in frustration. And now he had to worry about being sent back to Piedmont, he could not afford for that to happen! If he lost his chance to learn magic because of some stupid fake psychic then he was going to riot!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now it was up to him and Mabel to get the shack back but right now as he watched Jeff bathing in a bunch of squirrels it really made him question his sanity and whether or not he actually wanted to stick around. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do do do…” Jeff hummed only to stiffen up when he noticed Mabel and Dipper staring at him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Aah! This… this is normal. This is normal for gnomes. Scrub scrub” He said sheepishly as he scrubbed his armpit with a squirrel, Dipper and Mabel shared a disgusted look as they both wondered if this was actually a good idea or not. Maybe they could find a different army to take down Gideon.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, well, well. Look who came crawlin’ back. Take five, Chris. You guys keep doin’ what you’re doin’” Jeff said and a squirrel jumps out of the tub, Dipper stares after it with a confused look on his face. Why did that one get to take a break? On second thought maybe he didn’t want to know. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, changed your mind about marryin’ me, did ya Mabel?” Jeff asked in what he probably thought was a very seductive tone of voice but really just came off as creepy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ew, hardly. We need your help. And seriously, ew!” Mabel said as she cringed in disgust, Dipper fully agreed with his sister but if the displeased look on Jeff’s face was anything to go by her refusal would definitely hinder their plans. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You want our help? After you left me at the alter? No dice!”Jeff refused angrily and Dipper bit his lip as he tried to think of a way to convince him to help them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But what if we were able to get you a new queen? One even more beautiful than me” Mabel offered and Dipper’s eyes sparkled as he realized what his sister was trying to do.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Her name’s Gideon, and she has lovely white hair” Dipper added on and he felt a smirk appear on his face as he saw that they had caught Jeff’s interest. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Whoa. Mature woman, huh?” Jeff remarked with a perverted expression on his face that made Dipper hold back a shudder. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey Shmebulock, get my cologne!” Jeff called out excitedly and Shmebulock came out of the woods holding a bottle of cologne. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shmebulock!” He said cheerfully and Dipper tilted his head to the side curiously as Jeff gave the other gnome a slightly confused look as if he had just realized something. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is Shmebulock all you can say?” He asked and Shmebulok paused before he hung his head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shmeblock…” He replied sadly and Jeff slowly blinked at him confusion before he shook his head and turned back around to face the twins as he held his hand out with an eager grin on his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s a deal!” He stated eagerly and a slightly wicked grin appeared on Dipper’s face as he reached over and shook Jeff’s hand, the triangle on his ring flashed blue for a moment before returning to its golden colour not that anyone had noticed it.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Gideon Thinks He's On Top (He's Really Not)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Where are you, Journal?” Gideon grumbled in frustration as he continued to dig hole after hole but came up empty-handed each time. </p><p>“Boy, I hate to interrupt you, but you have some guests” His father said and Gideon glanced up to give him an annoyed look. </p><p>“What?” He questioned as he turned to look where his father was pointing and saw Mabel and Dipper standing by the chain-link fence with serious expressions on their faces. </p><p>“Give us back the deed to the shack Gideon, or else” Dipper threatened and while there was a slightly more dangerous undertone to the boy's voice that Gideon wasn’t expecting he just brushed the threat off with a condescending smile. </p><p>“Am I supposed to say, “Or else what?” He asked mockingly as he made emphasize to the well-built bodyguards standing behind him. </p><p>“Yes, you are supposed to say that” Mabel said as if he was an idiot before she cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled “Now!” As loudly as she could. </p><p>And all Gideon could do was gasp in shock when an army of gnomes came pouring out of the woods, they surrounded him and knocked out and tied up his guards leaving him on his own. Gideon looked forward as the twins approached him and while Mabel looked kind of cocky Dipper had a sort of dangerous glint in his eyes that put him a bit on edge. </p><p>“You’re surrounded Gideon, now give us back our deed and get off our property!” Dipper growled out and Gideon took a slight step back in shock, he glanced at Mabel to see if she noticed how weirdly her brother was acting but she seemed obvious. </p><p>“And let the marriage ceremony begin!” One of the gnomes announced excitedly and Gideon cast it a confused look before he glanced back at the twins as he tried to come up with an idea, his hand drifted towards his pocket where he had his whistle. Would that work? </p><p>“Very well. I suppose this deed belongs to-” He started saying before he pulled the whistle out of pocket and blew it harshly. All of the gnomes cover their ears in pain and a wicked grin appeared on Gideon’s face, it worked! </p><p>“Ha! What do you know! Works on gnomes too!” He sad giddily before he blew the whistle again and watched eagerly as the gnomes cowered and Dipper scowled in frustration. </p><p>“Stop! We’ll do anything! How can we serve you, your majesty!” One of the gnomes grovelled as it bowed to him but Gideon barely had a moment to relish in this new power before the stupid thing opened its mouth once again. </p><p>“The most beautiful girl we’ve ever seen!” It said in awe and Gideon felt his eyebrow twitch in frustration especially when he noticed the slight smirk on Dipper’s face. </p><p>“I am not a girl!” He snapped angrily and all of the gnomes stared at him in confusion. </p><p>“Really? But your skin is so soft. You moisturize, or…” The same gnome asked as it petted his hand, he growled in frustration as he yanked his hand away and pointed at Dipper and Mabel. </p><p>“Subdue them!” He ordered and the gnome grunt as they charged towards Dipper and Mabel, and while Mabel gasped in shock an angered look appeared on Dipper’s face. </p><p>“We had a deal!” Dipper snapped angrily and Gideon stared in shock as the gnomes froze in their charge and shared unsure looks. Gideon snapped out of his shock and blew his whistle again which snapped the gnomes out of their hesitancy and they resumed charging at the twins.</p><p>Gideon watched on happily as the gnomes forced Dipper and Mabel to their knees, their attempt had been cute but it was nothing compared to his genius.</p><p>“I have to admit, kids, I am impressed by your creativity! How did you ever…” He began to say only to trail off as in Dipper’s attempt to escape from the gnomes grasp a very familiar-looking Journal slipped out of his vest. </p><p>“No! Could it be? Is it?” Gideon gasped in awe as he rushed forward and picked the Journal. He glanced back at Dipper who was glaring harshly at him and startled laugh escaped him as he grinned condescendingly at the boy. </p><p>“Of course! It all makes sense! The one place I’d never think to look! You had it the whole time! And to think I actually considered you a threat!” He remarked in amusement as he flicked Dipper’s nose only to quickly pull his finger back when Dipper tried to bite him. </p><p>“Give it back” Dipper growled angrily as he struggled harder, Gideon narrowed his eyes slightly as he observed the boy. Had he always had a golden ring around his pupils? He shook his head before he went back to smirking at him condescendingly. </p><p>“Every victory you had was because of your precious book!” He taunted and quickly took a step back when Dipper tried to lunge at him but the gnomes were able to hold him back in time. </p><p>“Give it back or I’ll-” Dipper started to threaten but Gideon was quick to cut him off smugly. </p><p>“Or you’ll what, boy? You’ll what? Huh? Huh? No muscles. No brains. Face it! You're nothin’ without this!” He cheered mockingly as he waved the Journal in Dipper face and watched giddily as the boy got angrier. </p><p>“Bye-bye forever, y’all!” He said cheerfully as he blew his whistle and watched happily as the gnomes started dragging the two of them away only to gasp in shock when Dipper finally managed to pull himself out of the gnomes grasp and came charging towards him with his fist drawn back. </p><p>Thankfully his guards had managed to wake up and untie themselves while they had been having their conversation and were just barely able to stop Dipper from punching him in the face. He was kinda stunned at how furiously Dipper fought against his guards before one of them grew tired of the fight and knocked Dipper out so that they could drag him away. </p><p>Gideon smirked smugly before he turned to head back into the Shack so that he could finally read the Journal, everything was going perfectly.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Dipper is an Angry Boy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dipper crossed his arms and stared out of the bus window grumpily, by the time he had finally woken up from being knocked out by Gideon’s stupid guard he was already on the bus back to Piedmont alongside Mabel. There was still so much more he could have done!</p><p>“Hey, Dipper, wanna play bus seat treasure hunt?” Mabel finally suggested once she was done shifting around awkwardly, Dipper glanced at her briefly before signing and glancing back out the window. </p><p>“I’m not in the mood” He muttered and she frowned briefly before it was replaced with her bright smile. </p><p>“Aw, come one!” She prompted as she lifted the seat up and began searching. </p><p>“We got Canadian coins, gum that’s shaped like Ronald Reagan’s head, ooh! Miscellaneous fluid stain?” She said as if that would interest him but he just hummed noncommittally before his eyes widen as he saw a giant Gideon shaped robot running towards them.</p><p>“Giant robot!” He shouted in alarm as he flinched away from the window slightly, but Mabel seemed oblivious to his panic as she continued looking at the seats. </p><p>“Yeah, a giant robot… Wait, what?” She questioned as she glanced up in confusion, Dipper rolled his eyes as he grabbed her chin and forced her to look out the window and her eyes widen in horror. </p><p>“Halt! I command you to halt!” The robot shouted in Gideon’s voice as it continued to charge. </p><p>“Where the fuck did he even get a giant robot?” Dipper questioned in disbelief and Mabel tore her eyes away from the robot to give him a disapproving look. </p><p>“Language” She scolded before she ran up to the front of the bus to get the drivers attention, Dipper rolled his eyes and followed after her. Now that he thought about it it was probably McGucket who made it for him. </p><p>“Mr. Bus driver! There is a giant Gideon bot coming towards us!” Mabel cried out desperately only for both of them to halt when they saw who the driver was. </p><p>“Oh hey, dudes!” Soos said cheerfully as the two of them blinked at him in surprise. </p><p>“Soos!/What are you doing here?” Mabel/Dipper exclaimed in surprise. </p><p>“Don't worry guys. I’ve been a part-time bus driver for at least 40 minutes. One of these is probably a clutch…” Soos said as he grabbed at the clutch and Dipper’s faith in him flew out the window if Gideon didn’t kill them Soos definitely would. </p><p>“Hang on, dudes!” Soos commanded and Dipper latched onto one of the seats tightly. </p><p>“Soos, look out!” Mabel cried out in alarm as the Gideon- bot blocks that way with its hand. Soos turns the bus and smashes through a “Road Closed” sign. Dippers fingers were going white from how tightly he was gripping the seat. The Gideon-bot starts to climb up the mountain and he glares at it in frustration. </p><p>“What the hell does he want?” He grumbled angrily to himself. </p><p>“I got you in my sight!” Gideon shouted from his bot and Dipper glared at it some more before he noticed something in his peripheral. </p><p>“Soos, cliff!” He cried out in alarm and Soos slams hard on the breaks which thankfully stops them from going over the edge. He glances back at the Gideon-bot and sees it getting closer so he grabs Mabel’s hand and drags her out of the bus. Hopefully, Gideon would be to distracted by the bus to notice them escaping. </p><p>He hears the tearing of metal but he keeps running only to curse under his breath when they come to a dead end. He turns around as the Gideon-bot jumps onto the bridge and looms over them menacingly. </p><p>“Tell me! Where is Journal #1?!” Gideon shouted angrily and Dipper shared a baffled look with Mabel. </p><p>“Journal #1?” They both questioned but that seemed to only anger Gideon even more. </p><p>“Don’t play games with me, boy!” Gideon shouted as he punched the cliff and loosened a bunch of rocks that came falling down onto Dipper and Mabel who just barely managed to avoid being crushed. </p><p>“I don’t know what your fucking talking about! You took the only Journal I ever had!” He snapped angrily as his mind raced if he was looking for Journal #1 and he took Journal #3 from him then did that mean he already had Journal #2?</p><p>“What the hell do you even want with these Journals anyway?” He questions, maybe Gideon would feel like monologuing like the cheesy supervillain he was trying to be. But it seems Gideon wasn’t in the mood as he simply used his bot to pick him and Mabel up, the two of them struggle desperately to get out. </p><p>He notices the tears that are appearing in Mabel’s eyes as her struggles prove fruitless and his anger spikes as he punches at the bot even harder not noticing the faint red glow coming from his ring that was making his punches the tiniest bit more effective but not effective enough to make a real dent. </p><p>“Let her go now!” He growled angrily as he glared up at the Gideon-bot which just earned him condescending laughter from Gideon. </p><p>“You still think you’re some kind of hero?” He asked mockingly before he threw Dipper towards the cliff not really caring if he landed safely or not, he had his queen that’s all that really mattered. </p><p>Dipper let out a choked off gasp of pain as his back slammed into a tree and the breath was knocked out of him. He watched the Gideon-bot walk away as his vision went a little blurry and Mabel cried out for his help. He slowly pulled himself to his feet and winced as pain coursed threw out his body, he grit his teeth and stared at the Gideon-bot. What was he going to do? </p><p>He glanced down when he felt a cool tingling feeling on his finger where his ring was and saw that triangle was now pure white and so he brought it closer to his face curiously.</p><p>“Jump, and you will make it” Bill’s voice whispered in his head and sudden confidence filled Dipper as he took a few steps back before he ran and jumped off of the cliff. Logically he should have fallen to his death but instead, he burst through the Gideon-bot’s eye and tackled Gideon to the floor. </p><p>“Let go of my sister!” He growled as he punched Gideon in the face, the shorter boy forces his way back onto his feet as he glares at Dipper. </p><p>“Never! I finally won this time!” He snapped back as he tackled Dipper and punches him. Dipper brushes it off and gets back to his feet and blocks Gideon’s next punch by grabbing his hand and forcing him to punch himself in the face a few times. </p><p>Gideon stared up at Dipper slightly fearfully only for his fear to turn to horror when he noticed that the small ring of gold around Dipper’s pupils was bright red. He had no time to panic over it as the next time Dipper used his fist to punch him it was a bit too much as it made the Bot’s head spin forcing them apart. </p><p>Dipper gasped in shock as the Bot falls off the bridge, he slips through the broken eye and watches as the Bot falls faster than him and Mabel who is screaming fearfully right beside him. </p><p>The Bot hits the ground and unleashes a huge explosion which blinds Dipper but he is still able to feel Mabel wrap her arm around his waist before their decent is suddenly halted. He glances up and sees that Mabel has actually used her grappling hook for something useful, he’s so relieved that a few choked off chuckles escape him as Mable grins widely. </p><p>“GRAPPLING HOOK!!!” Told you it will come in handy!” She said cheerfully and Dipper just chuckled softly in agreement, he would never doubt the grappling hook again. They safely reach the ground and Dipper is slightly tempted to kiss it in his relief. </p><p>“Mabel, that was amazing” He said genuinely and she smiled a little smugly as she struck a little pose. </p><p>“It was pretty amazing, wasn’t it?” She asked teasingly and he chuckled fondly at her actions. She grinned widely at him before nudging his arm excitedly. </p><p>“Almost as amazing as you defeating that robot!” She said cheerfully and a proud smile appeared on his face before he noticed his Journal on the ground. He quickly scooped it up and slipped it into his vest pocket just in case Gideon showed back up looking for it. </p><p>It was at that moment that the cops showed up alongside a bunch of curious townspeople, Dipper groaned softly as he shared a look with Mabel. This was going to be very difficult to explain.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. The Aftermath</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“No! No! Watch the hair! You can’t do this to me! Y’all are sheep! You need me! I’ll be back! You’ll hear from my lawyers!” Gideon shouted angrily as he was being forced into the police car. Damn Stanford and his stupid hearing aid! This was his victory how could it have gone all wrong? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He snapped his head to the side slightly when he saw Dipper in his peripheral smirking at him smugly, the red ring around his pupils was gone but the gold was still there if you looked for it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mark my words Dipper Pines! I don’t know what kind of power you have discovered that allowed you to defeat me, but I will find it and I will crush you!” He shouted before his head was finally forced inside of the car and the window was rolled up. Through it, he was able to see Mabel giving her brother a confused look to which he just held his hands up and shrugged. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But it was as he did this that Gideon noticed the ring on the boy's hand that he had never seen before, was this the source of his power? Had he found something like his amulet? He needed to get his hands on it! He tried to struggle out of the car but it had already started driving away. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He grits his teeth together angrily, he would get that ring and the power that came with it! And then this pathetic town would finally be his and there would be nothing Dipper could do to stop him!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What was that about?” Mabel asked baffled and Dipper rubbed the back of his neck just as baffled as he watched the cop car drive away. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe I knocked something loose when I punched him?” He suggested partially joking and Mabel snorted in amusement as a grin appeared on her face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah that must be it” She said cheerfully and Dipper grinned back as Shandra approached them with her camera crew. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There you have it. Local hero Stanford Pines has just exposed Li’l Gideon as a fraud. Anything you have to say to the town, Stanford?” Shandra asked as she held out her microphone and Stna grinned as he wrapped his arms around Dipper and Mabel, not noticing the way Dipper stiffened under his touch. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The Mystery Shack is back, baby!” He said joyfully earning him cheers from the townspeople, he glanced down at the twins and while Mabel was smiling widely Dipper was avoiding eye contact with him which kinda confused him but he just brushed it off as him being exhausted from this whole ordeal. </span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>“I think we should tell Grunkle Stan about the Journal” Mabel suddenly said as they unpacked their things, Dipper’s back stiffened as snapped his head to the side to stare at her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What? Why?” He questioned and Mabel gave him a soft look. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think he deserves to know the real reason Gideon wanted the shack” She said softly and Dipper narrowed his eyes as he glanced away from her and stared down at his knees, he didn’t want Stan to have anything to do with his Journal. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He doesn’t even believe in that kind of stuff, he’ll probably just think we're joking” He grumbled and Mabel made a sad noise before she scooted closer to him and gave him her puppy dog eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please?” She prompted and Dipper tried to avoid looking at her but she just pushed her face closer to his which weakened his resolve. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fucking… fine!” He grumbled and she cheered excitedly as she stood up and did a little dance which was the exact same time that Stan poked his head into their room. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh, you kiddos settlin’ back in okay?” He asked as he stepped into the room and Mabel gave him a wide smile as she nodded, Dipper just turned away and pulled the last few things out of his box. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yep! All of my favourite moldy spots on the ceiling are still there! Even you, Daryl!” Mabel said cheerfully before she shot Dipper a look earning her a long-suffering sigh from Dipper before he slipped the Journal out of his vest pocket.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Grunkle Stan, me and Dipper have been talking, and I there’s something we should finally tell you” Mabel said as she sat down on Dipper’s bed and patted the space between her and Dipper. Stan blinked in confusion as he took a seat between them, his eyes focused on the Journal in Dipper’s hands. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is a Journal I found in the woods” Dipper said as he hesitantly handed Stan the Journal to look through it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It talks about all the crazy stuff that goes on in Gravity Falls. Gideon nearly destroyed the whole town trying to find it. I don’t know what it means, or who wrote it. But after all, we’ve been through, maybe you should finally know about it” He continued to explain and Stan flipped through the pages before he solemnly closes it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m glad you showed me this, Dipper…” Stan said seriously and Dipper felt a spark of hope flare up in him, maybe Stan will finally take him seriously and treat him like he actually mattered. That hope quickly fizzled out when Stan started laughing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now I know where you’ve been getting it all from! Spookums and monsters. This spooky book has been filling your head with crazy conspiracies!” Stan said in amusement and Dipper scowled angrily. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But It’s all real!” He snapped angrily but Stan just continued to chuckle. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You gotta quit readin’ this fantasy nonsense for your own good. Although some of these would make great attractions! Can’t come up with this stuff! Mind if I borrow this?” Stan asked in amusement and without waiting for a response he got up and started heading out the door with the Journal still held in his hand. Dipper felt his temper spike as he jumped to his feet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What? No!” He snapped but Stan just laughed some more about his “Magic Book” as he walked out the door. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stan, Give it back!” He snapped as he attempted to storm after Stan only to be stopped by Mabel placing a hand on his shoulder. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dipper, you don’t need that book! Don’t you see? On your own, you defeated a giant robot with nothing but your bare hands! You’re a hero whether you’ve got that Journal or not!” She said encouragingly but Dipper just turned away from her, his emotions were still a swirling mess of anger and hurt. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It had been her idea to tell Stan and she didn’t even care that it had cost him the Journal. He turned to look at her and to tell her how upset he was only to be cut off by Soos popping out of a cardboard box and shooting the two of them with his water gun. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Soos-ed!” He cheered and Mabel giggled cheerfully as she chased after Soos out of the room. Dipper shot the door an annoyed look before he let out a frustrated sigh through his nose, typical he thought bitterly to himself before he replaced his wet vest with a sweater and his shorts with some pants and then slipped out onto the balcony. He was far to pent up to sleep, besides that his body still ached painfully because Stan couldn’t be bothered to let him see a doctor after the shit that had happened. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He gazed up at the stars and traced the different constellations with his eyes to help calm his nerves, he paused as he reached the Big Dipper as he remembered what Bill had said. He took his hat off and traced his birthmark with his hand as he stared up at the matching constellation. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Growing up he had often wondered if it hadn’t been for this birthmark, could he have just been Mason? Could he have lived a normal life without all of the bullying and taunting like Mabel had been able to? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had honestly thought of it as a curse for a long time, just a bad omen that he could never be rid of. But if Bill was to be believed it was actually an amazing gift something he should be honoured to have. Well, only time would tell he mused as he felt his eyes slowly slip shut while his mind continued to race and when he opened them back up he was met with a black and white clearing surrounded by pine trees. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m glad you finally decided to show up Pinetree” Bill said teasingly and Dipper whirled around to face him only to gasp in shock when he actually saw him. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Flustering a Pine Tree</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Bill?” Dipper gasped in shock and Bill honest to God </span>
  <em>
    <span>giggled </span>
  </em>
  <span>as he spun around as if to better show himself off. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Like what you see Pinetree?” He asked charmingly as he leaned forward on his cane and smiled brightly. Dipper blinked dumbfounded as he looked the currently human-looking triangle demon up and down. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was about a head or so taller than him with golden blonde, a tanned complexion, golden eyes or well eye as one was covered by a black eye patch, he was wearing a gold and black suit and he was smiling charmingly at him that definitely didn’t make him blush slightly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“H-How are you human?” He stuttered out which made Bill’s grin grow as he rocked on his heels. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m a demon Pinetree I can take many forms, the Triangle form is my origin form so its the one I stay in the most as its the easiest to maintain” He explained and Dipper made a soft sound of understanding before yelping when Bill suddenly got right up close to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So how do I look?” He asked with a mischievous twinkle in his eye and Dipper coughed into his fist to hide his blush at having Bill so close to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You look nice” He said as he glanced away shyly but not before he noticed the smug look on the demons face, cheeky demons he thought grumpily as Bill finally got out of his personal space. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks! I figured this form would make teaching you easier” He said cheekily as he waved his hand and two trees sprouted from the ground, a chalkboard formed between them as well as a stump on the ground. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ready for lesson one Pinetree?” He asked and Dipper grinned eagerly as he took a seat on the stump only for a faint frown to appear on his face as he thought of something. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why do you call me Pinetree? Why don’t you ever say my name?” He asked curiously and Bill gave him an unreadable look before he sighed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you even know your own name?” He asked and Dipper blinked in confusion. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What? Of course, I do” He said baffled earning him an unconvinced hum from Bill as he crouched down in front of him with an unimpressed look on his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“When was the last time someone called you Mason?” He asked and Dipper stiffened up as he glanced away from him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s… been awhile” He admitted and Bill hummed as if he knew this before he tapped at his forehead, it was then that he realized he wasn’t wearing his hat, with a slightly soft look on his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is a gift but you shouldn’t base your whole life around it, so until you tell me otherwise I’m going to continue to call you Pinetree” He stated before he got up and walked back over towards the chalkboard. Dipper frowned thoughtfully as he stared after him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So let’s begin your first lesson” Bill said as he turned to face him again with his smile back in place, he snapped his fingers and a beautiful blue journal with a silver pine tree on the cover appeared on Dipper’s lap alongside a dark blue pen. Dipper gasped in awe as he traced the silver pine tree before he glanced up at Bill who had a slightly proud look on his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’ll use this to take notes since there are only a few spells you can do in the mindscape, everything you learn here will be almost entirely theoretical. You’ll have to practise the other stuff in the waking world” He explained and Dipper nodded in understanding before he bit his lip worriedly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How will I be able to practise without you or the Journal?” He asked anxiously and Bill hummed as he waved his hand and a faint silver glow emanated from the Journal. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The Journal is enchanted it will appear before you once you wake up much like your ring did, which speaking of...” Bill explained before his hand caught fire and he pointed at the ring and Dipper realized that the golden triangle was now blue. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sure you’ve realized by now but I have a connection with that ring, hold it close to your face and I’ll be able to communicate with you until you are strong enough to properly summon me” He said and Dipper blinked down at his ring curiously before he gave Bill a confused look. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But Gideon was able to summon you” He said challenging/jealously and Bill made a so-so gesture with his now fireless hand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He did but not in the way I’m referring to, what Gideon did was access the mindscape so that he could make a deal with me what you need to do is summon me in the waking world which is far too advanced for you right now” He explained while stressing the last part and Dipper quickly nodded in understanding. Bill stared him down for a few minutes to make sure he understood before he nodded and turned back towards the chalkboard. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“For your first lesson, I will be teaching you how to properly encrypt your work so that only you can understand what is written, can’t have someone snoopy through your things and discovering all of your secrets now can we?” He explained while saying the last part teasingly and Dipper chuckled softly in agreement. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bill wrote out the spell on the chalkboard before he turned to face Dipper and saw that he was dutifully writing it down. He grinned a little bit, this kind of reminded him of… he quickly shook his head to rid him of that thought. He did not want to compare his Pinetree to </span>
  <em>
    <span>him. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now place your hand on the Journal and repeat after me, </span>
  <b>
    <em>Omnes celare illud</em>
  </b>
  <span>” He stated and Dipper took in a deep breath before he placed his hand down onto his Journal. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <b>
    <em>Omnes celare illud</em>
  </b>
  <span>” He recited and let out a tiny gasp when he felt a tingling feeling in his fingers, he glanced up at Bill and saw that he was smiling excitedly at him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well done Pinetree, now that Journal will look blank to anyone who looks at it except for you” He explained eagerly and Dipper grinned excitedly, he actually did it!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now give me your freehand” Bill instructed as he walked closer and Dipper blinked in confusion before he held out to the blonde demon who took his hand and placed it over his heart. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now this one is a little tricker but repeat after me, </span>
  <b>
    <em>Patitur notas sententiam legis” </em>
  </b>
  <span>He stated and Dipper took in another deep breath. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>“Patitur notas sententiam legis” </em>
  </b>
  <span>He recited and a silver light seeped into Bill’s chest and Bill’s smile widened. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You are a natural Pinetree, now I can see your work as well. Gotta make sure you're staying on track after all” He said teasingly and Dipper couldn’t help but laugh happily, he was actually learning magic! And he was good at it! This was amazing!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s next?” He asked eagerly and Bill let out a fond chuckle as he let his hand go. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So much” He said just as eagerly and Dipper thought his face would split from how widely he was smiling. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Cores</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“All spells have a core, these cores trackback to one or more of the seven Primal Sources. Earth, Fire, Water, Air, Light, Darkness and Energy” Bill explained as he wrote it all down on the chalkboard before he turned to face Dipper. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Energy cored spells are the only ones you’ll be able to do here in the mindscape as Energy is something your body naturally produces were as the others you’ll need to be awake to feel their presence as they don’t occur inside you but in nature” Bill stated and Dipper made a soft sound of understanding as he wrote that down. Bill nodded in satisfaction before he turned back to the chalkboard and drew the outline of a human with a circle in the middle of the chest. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just like with the spells all magical beings have a core, these cores will have natural leanings towards one or more of the Primal Sources. These leanings indicate which spells will come more easily to them, that doesn’t mean you can’t do spells that fall under a different Primal Source it just means you will have to work harder to master them” He explained as he drew the different symbols within the circle. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How do you know what leaning your core has?” Dipper asked curiously and Bill hummed as he turned to face him before he held up three fingers. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There are three ways to discover that, the first is trial and error. Basically, you would just cast a bunch of spells and see which ones come more easily to you and which ones don’t. This is a rather barbaric method however and I wouldn’t recommend it” He explained as he put a finger down. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The second is deep mediation, becoming one with your core and learning about it in its entirety not just it's leaning” He continued as he put another finger down before he gave Dipper a cheeky grin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The last method is to have your friendly neighbourhood demon tell you for you” He said teasingly as he let his hand fall to his side, Dipper attempted to give him puppy dogs eyes but that just earned him a chuckle from Bill. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Put the puppy dog eyes away Pinetree, I’ll tell you what your core leaning is. Though I still heavily recommended you do some meditation on it as the better you understand your core the stronger a spell caster you will become” He stated seriously and Dipper nodded in understanding. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bill hummed as he swiped his hand through the air and Dipper gasped softly when he felt a cold tingling feeling run up his spine before A silvery-blue orb appears before Bill. He let out a curious noise as he tapped at the orb to examine it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your core has a natural leaning towards Energy, Fire, Earth and Darkness” He explained and Dipper tilted his head curiously. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is having four leanings normal?” He asked curiously as he leaned forward slightly, Bill nodded as he waved his hand and the orb disappeared. This time Dipper felt a warm feeling run down his spine. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Three, four and five leanings are relatively normal and they show a strong mage, one and two leanings are considered rather weak were as six and seven leanings could overwhelm or corrupt a mage. Of course, there is always the rare exception here and there” He explained and Dipper hummed in understanding as he jotted that down. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So Water, Air and Light-based spells will be tricker for me?” He asked and Bill nodded before he turned back to the chalkboard and erased what he had already written so that he could write something new. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Something to keep in mind is that some spells have more than one core as well, for instances an illusion spell has a core of Light and Darkness so it could come easy to you it might not” He explained as he wrote it down and Dipper hummed as he wrote that down as well before he glanced at Bill curiously. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is your cores leaning?” He asked and Bill paused for a moment before he turned his head slightly so that he could look at him thoughtfully. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Energy, Fire, Air, Darkness and Light” He said simply before he turned back to the chalkboard once again only to let out a soft frustrated sigh as he noticed things starting to get blurry. He spun around to face Dipper and saw that he was looking around in confusion. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It looks like your starting to wake up” He said and a soft smile appeared on his face when he saw the disappointed look on Dipper’s face. He was so eager to learn and he absorbed it so well, far better then </span>
  <em>
    <span>he </span>
  </em>
  <span>had. </span>
  <em>
    <span>He </span>
  </em>
  <span>had been determined to bring up logic and science all the time to try and better understand the mythical. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“When you get the chance why don’t you head out into the woods, we can continue our lesson there through the ring” He suggested and Dipper nodded eagerly in agreement before everything fully faded as he fully woke up.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>Dipper groaned as he slowly blinked his eyes open before he glanced to his left when he realized he was being shaken only to see Mabel halfway leaning out the window and giving him a confused look. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Dipping Sauce, what were you doing sleeping on the balcony?” She asked curiously as she stopped shaking him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was stargazing and I must have fallen asleep” He explained and she hummed in understanding before she gave him one of her megawatt smiles. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well you should come down soon, Grunkle Stan wants us there for the grand reopening of the shack” She said cheerfully before she slipped back into their bedroom and bounced off with the energy of a rabbit. Dipper scowled slightly at the thought of being around Stan before he sighed and stretched his arms up to relieve himself of the sore feeling in his back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He grinned softly when he noticed his Journal resting on his lap, he slipped it into his sweater before he headed back inside. He may not want to be around people right now but if he didn’t at least make an appearance Mabel or Stan would come looking for him and he just did not have the patience to deal with that right now, especially if it delayed him from seeing Bill. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Slipping Away</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Welcome, to the grand re-opening of the Mystery Shack!” Stan announced and all of the tourists cheered.</p><p>“We’re here to celebrate the defeat of that skunk Li’l Gideon!” He stated as he lifted a Gideon doll up earning boos from the tourists. Dipper smirked a little at this, boos were the least that little shit deserved. </p><p>“Please, please… boo harder!” Stan encouraged and the crowd's boos increased tenfold. </p><p>“But I didn’t catch that pork chop all alone. These two scamps deserve SOME of the glory” He said charmingly as he attempted to rub Dippers head only for the boy to duck out of the way. Before he could ponder on this Mabel elbowed him and he chuckled fondly.</p><p>“Okay, okay. Most of the glory” He said teasingly and Dipper mentally rolled his eyes as he attempted to keep a smile in place for the cameras, though as he glanced at Toby he realized that that might not be totally necessary. </p><p>“Smile for the camera!” Toby said as he held up a cinder block painted to look like a camera, Dipper tilted his head to the side in confusion. </p><p>“Your camera’s a cinder block, Toby” Stan deadpanned and Toby wilted sadly. </p><p>“I just wanna be a part of things…” He said sadly right before he was pushed out of the way by Shandra and her camera crew. </p><p>“Smile for a REAL camera” She stated condescendingly and Dipper couldn’t help but to snicker softly at that, damn was that brutal. </p><p>“Everybody say “Something stupid!” Mabel announced as she pokes her fingers in her cheek, Stan puts on jazz hands and Dipper pulled his eyelid down as well as stick his tongue out. </p><p>“Something stupid!” They all said in varying levels of enthusiasm for the camera. </p><p>“And don’t forget to come to the after-party tonight at eight” Stan announced as he showed the crowd a poster. Dipper scowled a little at this, how likely was it that he could get out of this? </p><p>“We’re doing a karaoke bonanza, people!” Mabel cheered excitedly as she grabbed the karaoke machine from off the floor and pulled it up onto the counter. </p><p>“Lights! Music! Enchantment!” She listed off cheerfully before blowing some confetti out of her hand and into the crowd. </p><p>“And an amazing karaoke performance by our family band, Love Patrol Alpha!” She announced eagerly and Dipper felt his eyebrow twitch in annoyance as he stared at the picture his sister was holding. </p><p>“I would never agree to that ever” Dipper and Stan said in unison but Mabel just ignored them as she hugged her picture close to her chest with a wide smile on her face.  </p><p>“Too late! I wrote your names on the list! It’s happening!” She said excitedly and Dipper let out an annoyed groan which was drowned out by Wendy blowing an air horn, his chances of getting out of this just dropped drastically. </p><p>“Buy a ticket, people! You know you don’t have anything going on in your lives! I’m talking to you, Pizza Guy! Don’t lame out on me!” Wendy called out as she ushered the tourists out of the shack. Stan let out a satisfied sigh as he gazed after the crowd.</p><p>“The town loves us, we finally got that Gideon smell out of the carpet. Everything is finally going my way” He said cheerfully and Dipper rolled his eyes before he attempted to leave the shack, even if he could just get an hour with Bill that would make up for the social nightmare this party will be. </p><p>“Where are you going?” Stan asked and Dipper grumbled under his breath as he turned back around to face his great uncle. </p><p>“I’m just going for a walk” He stated simply and Stan furrowed his eyebrows in thought before he nodded in acceptance as if his opinion really had any effect on what Dipper decided to do.</p><p>“Alright, but before you go…” He started to say only to trail off as he patted himself before lifting up the counter and retrieving Journal #3. </p><p>“Here take this thing back, it was so boring I couldn’t even finish it” He said teasingly as he handed it to him, Dipper raised a slightly unimpressed eyebrow as he accepted the Journal in slipped it into his sweater</p><p>“Thanks” He said almost offhandedly as he turned on his heel so that he could head out of the shack only to be stopped by Mabel who was giving him a very serious look. </p><p>“You better not be late to the party mister or I will cover you in sparkles while your sleeping” She threatened and Dipper chuckled fondly as he nodded in understanding. </p><p>“Don’t worry I’ll be there” He said while he internally grumbled about it, though the bright smile his sister gave him was worth it. She skipped off towards the living room while he was finally able to leave the shack. Thankfully most the crowd had dispersed so he had no real problems leaving, with the exception of almost being hit by a very fancy looking car. </p><p>He stared at the two men who step out of the car for a moment, they looked way too important to be at some tourist trap. He was a little curious to see why they were here but his desire to train with Bill won out so he continued to make his way into the woods.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Spells and Teasing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Look at that patch of flowers, do you see how some of them look like they’ve been trampled on?” Bill asked and Dipper glanced around before his eyes landed on a patch of wildflowers, a great deal of them looked like some haad stomped through them without a care.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I want you to place your hand on the ground in the centre of the patch and say this </span>
  <b>
    <em>Flores crescere fortis” </em>
  </b>
  <span>Bill instructed and Dipper nodded in understanding as he made his way towards the flowers. He crouched down next to them and placed his right hand in the centre, his left was held next to his ear so that he could hear Bill, before taking a deep steadying breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>“Flores crescere fortis” </em>
  </b>
  <span>He recited and a pale green light surrounded the trampled flowers before they slowly began to stand tall once again. Once all of the flowers were back to their former glory he pulled his hand away and grinned at his achievement. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well done Pinetree now let's try something tricker” Bill praised and Dipper hummed happily as he stood back up, it felt so nice to have someone actually acknowledge his achievements. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Before that is there any way to make it so that I can hear you without holding my hand up constantly? It’s starting to hurt” He asked hopefully and Bill hummed thoughtfully. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, place your hand over your ring and say </span>
  <b>
    <em>Sana incremento” </em>
  </b>
  <span>He instructed and Dipper lowered his hand from his ear so that he could follow his instructions. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>“Sana incremento” </em>
  </b>
  <span>He recited and a silver light seeped into his ring as it grew cold then hot before returning to normal. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There now you should be able to hear me” Bill remarked and Dipper grinned happily. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just remember to only do this spell when we're alone and to do the counterspell after our session, can’t have anyone knowing that your ring is more then just a ring” He stated seriously to which Dipper nodded in understanding. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s the counterspell?” He asked as he allowed his hands to fall to his sides.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>“Sana diminutio” </em>
  </b>
  <span>Bill recited and Dipper nodded once again in understanding. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, what’s my next spell?” He asked eagerly and Bill chuckled fondly at his enthusiasm. </span>
</p><p><span>“I want you to hold your hand out towards a small object and say </span><b><em>Resurgemus</em></b><span> while slowly lifting your hand upwards”</span> <span>He instructed, Dipper hummed as he glanced around before he noticed a pinecone on the ground. He held his hand out towards it and took a deep breath. </span></p><p>
  <b>
    <em>“Resurgemus” </em>
  </b>
  <span>He recited as he lifted his hand slowly only for a displeased look to appear on his face when nothing happened. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>“Resurgemus” </em>
  </b>
  <span>He tried again and this time a pale white light appeared around the pinecone as it twitched before it disappeared, he huffed in frustration as he let his hand fall back to side and his shoulders tensed up in his frustration. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t get frustrated Pinetree, this spell has an Air core so it won’t come as easily to you like the others. Now take another deep breathe and visualize the pinecone rising off the ground” Bill said calming and Dipper untensed his shoulders and took in another deep breath. He held his hand out towards the pinecone once again and this time he imagined it rising off of the ground. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>“Resurgemus” </em>
  </b>
  <span>He recited once again, a pale white light wrapped around the pinecone and it slowly rose off of the ground. Dipper grinned widely in excitement. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I did it!” He said excitedly but his excitement supercharged the spell and the pinecone skyrocketed upwards which resulted in it knocking a squirrel out of a tree before it lost its momentum and fell back to the ground. Dipper winced as the squirrel squeaked angrily at him before rushing off. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Whoops...” He said sheepishly and Bill practically cackled in amusement. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well done Pinetree, well done!” He said through his laughter and Dipper just groaned in embarrassment as he covered his face to hide his blush. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can we move onto to something else? Maybe something easier?” He asked hopefully as he pulled his hands away from his face and Bill chuckled in amusement.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course, can’t have you terrorizing anymore defenceless woodland creatures” He said teasingly, Dipper groaned and reburied his face into his hands which earned him even more laughter from Bill. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I hate you” He grumbled childishly to which Bill just hummed in amusement as he quieted his laughter. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure you do Pinetree” He said fondly and Dipper just huffed. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Worrying</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“You are progressing nicely Pinetree” Bill remarked and Dipper grinned tiredly in pride as he flopped down onto the ground so that he could rest for a minute. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why am I so tired?” He asked as he wiped some sweat from his forehead. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You're pushing the limits of your abilities” Bill explained and Dipper tilted his head to the side curiously.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you mean?” He asked and Bill hummed thoughtfully. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your body naturally produces Energy, this doesn’t just allow you to use Energy-based spells but it also powers your core. As you continue to cast spells even if they aren’t Energy-based you still use up some of that Energy, so there is a limit to how many spells a mage can use at a time without causing harm to yourself” He explained seriously and Dipper sat up a little bit with a worried look on his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What kind of harm?” He asked worriedly as he placed a hand on his chest where he thought his core might be. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If a mage drains themselves of their natural Energy the spells will seek out a new source to power them, that source being your Life Force and if that were to run out...well I’m sure you can imagine what would happen” He explained and Dipper’s eyes widened in horror. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But you needn’t worry, you are nowhere near out of Energy. In fact for a human you have a uniquely large amount, the reason your so tired is simply because your so new to magic that your core is getting quite the work out” He said reassuringly and Dipper slumped in relief, he thought he was going to have a heart attack. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How can you tell if you're using your Life Force instead of Energy?” He asked after he got his heart to calm down. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Casting spells will start to feel very painful” Bill explained and Dipper nodded in understanding, alright if it starts hurting stop immediately. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are we going to do more today?” He asked hopefully and Bill chuckled fondly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No I think we're done for today” He replied and Dipper couldn’t help but pout slightly in disappointment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How come?” He asked in an almost childish tone of voice which just earned him another chuckle from Bill. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I believe you have a party to get to” He remarked teasingly and Dipper’s eyes widened as he glanced up at the darkening sky. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Damn it” He grumbled as he stood up he really did not want to go but he knew he didn’t have a choice in the matter. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You better hurry Pinetree, you don’t want to incur Shooting Star’s wrath do you?” Bill asked teasingly and Dipper grumbled some more as he placed his hand over his ring. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>“Sana diminutio” </em>
  </b>
  <span>He recited before he booked it in the direction of the shack. He really did not want to wake up covered in sparkles, you could just never get rid of them all. </span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>“There you are Dipper! I thought I would have to go hunt you down” Mabel said cheerfully and Dipper grinned tiredly as he attempted to catch his breath. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, sorry I lost track of time” He said sheepishly and she simply waved her hand dismissively. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m just glad you showed up, Grunkle’s Stan been super twitchy all day so I think we’re going to have to carry the performance” She remarked as she gestured towards the stage where Stan was and he did in fact look very twitchy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s got him so nervous?” He asked curiously and Mabel glanced around as if looking for something before she pointed at something behind him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Those government guys showed up after you left and have been hovering around all day and its made Grunkle Stan all anxiousie” She replied and Dipper glanced behind himself only to see the same guys who almost hit him with their car earlier. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do they want?” He asked curiously as he turned back around to face Mabel but she just shrugged. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know, Grunkle Stan’s been very tight-lipped about it” She said and Dipper hummed curiously as he glanced between his twitchy uncle and the stoic looking agents. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But enough of that, we have a performance to get to!” Mabel stated cheerfully as she grabbed his arm and started dragging him towards the stage which just earned her an unhappy groan from Dipper. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do I really have to? It’s going to be a disaster” He said in a childish tone of voice which earned him a confused look from Mabel. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But you love singing, why would it be a disaster?” She questioned and Dipper gave her a deadpanned look. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve never done it in front of a crowd before” He grumbled seriously which earned him a dismissive hand wave from Mabel. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come on it’ll be fun” She said as she continued to drag him up onto the stage despite his grumbling. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Bill Has a Lot of Feelings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>So it hadn’t been a huge disaster like he thought it would be, just mildly embarrassing. Stan was still too twitchy to really get into so it was mostly him and Mabel which made it bit more bearable. He still didn’t enjoy it however as the song Mabel had chosen was just the worst. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Thankfully however after their performance, Mabel was distracted by her friends so he was able to slip away and hide out in his room. He currently had his Journal open and was writing down all of the things he had learned today, with Bill chiming in to correct spelling and to give more in-depth explanations on the spells. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know why you didn’t want to perform, your not a bad singer” Bill suddenly remarked and Dipper frowned as he paused in his writing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I just don’t like performing in front of people, it makes me uncomfortable” He mumbled and Bill hummed thoughtfully. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Would you perform for me, Pinetree?” He asked teasingly and Dipper smiled as he rolled his eyes in amusement. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not on your life” He replied teasingly as he closed his Journal, he could practically feel the pout coming from Bill. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your so mean to me Pinetree” He whined childishly and Dipper just chuckled as he pulled out Journal #3 and started flipping through it, though to be honest, he wasn’t sure what he was looking for he had read this thing front to back over a hundred times. He paused on the page about Bill and stared at it thoughtfully. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bill… Did you know the Author of the Journals?” He asked and there was a long bout of silence before Bill finally responded. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I did” He said tensely and Dipper frowned as he traced over the warning on the page. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can you tell me about them?” He asked hesitantly only to gasp in pain when the ring grew almost unbearably hot, he tried to take it off but it wouldn’t budge no matter what he did. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bill you're hurting me!” He cried out fearfully and the burning feeling stopped instantly, he slumped in relief and held his hand close to his chest shakily. The burning may have stopped but the pain hadn’t. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry Pinetree” Bill said softly as a cool feeling flowed out of the ring and Dipper sighed in relief when the pain slowly went away. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can I ask why you got so angry?” He asked hesitantly and Bill sighed tiredly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s just say that that man and I don’t exactly see eye to eye” He said darkly, Dipper nodded in understanding, and though he was very curious, he decided not to push the demon any further. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Ok" He said softly and they fell into a tense silence for a couple of minutes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You should go get something to eat” Bill suddenly remarked and Dipper raised a confused eyebrow. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You've barely had anything to eat all day, you need to keep your strength” He said simply and Dipper hummed in understanding, he wasn’t wrong he had had a quick breakfast before the grand reopening but other than that he had been too distracted to really eat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, your right” He remarked as he slipped Journal #3 back into his sweater. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m always right” Bill said smugly and Dipper rolled his eyes in amusement as he got up off of his bed, hopefully, everyone was still distracted by the party so that he could slip in and grab some food without being disturbed. </span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>Bill wanted to slam his head against a wall repeatedly, how could he have been so stupid as to lose his temper like that! Especially with the connection he had with the stupid ring! He could have really hurt his Pinetree! </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s got your panties in a twist?” Pyronica asked curiously as she poked his cheek, he grumbled a pushed her hand away in annoyance. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shut it Pyronica” He growled threateningly but all she did was roll her eye. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah no, how about instead of being all growly you tell me what’s wrong?” She drawled unimpressed and Bill grumbled in annoyance as he crossed his arms, damn her and her ability to read him so well. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is this about that human you’ve grown so fond of?” She asked and he growled at her again which just earned him another unimpressed eye roll. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll take that as a yes” She remarked and Bill just continued to scowl. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let me guess, you did something stupid and now you're beating yourself up over it?” She asked rhetorically and Bill’s scowl grew. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am an all-powerful dream demon, I don’t do anything stupid and I certainly don’t beat myself up over the opinions of mortals” He snapped and Pyronica simply smiled in amusement. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But this one is different, isn’t he?” She prompted almost teasingly and Bill turned away from her as he grumbled in annoyance. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s just like my Little Ram,  I know exactly what you're going through” She said in a softer tone of voice and Bill’s shoulders slumped a little bit as he turned to face her once again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My Pinetree is nothing like them” He stated almost petulantly and Pyronica grinned in amusement before a sombre look entered her eye as she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder which startled him a little bit, Pyronica wasn’t exactly known for her gentleness. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Be careful, Bill, you have a tendency to become attached to humans and get hurt because of them” She stated seriously and Bill scowled as he glanced away from her once again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pinetree is different then the others</span>
  <em>
    <span>” </span>
  </em>
  <span>He mumbled more to himself than to her.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Dipper and Bill Have a Talk</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>That night's lesson was stiff and uncomfortable, Bill clearly didn’t have his heart in the lesson and Dipper was growing more and more concerned by it. The demon was normally so excited and bouncy but now? He just seemed tired and listless.</p><p>“How is your hand?” Bill suddenly asked and Dipper blinked in surprise before he glanced down at his hand, the pain had almost completely disappeared by the time he had fallen asleep. </p><p>“It’s fine” He remarked as he glanced back up at Bill who simply nodded before turning back to the chalkboard though it still seemed like he lacked any energy. Dipper tilted his head curiously, was that why he was acting so strangely? </p><p>“I don’t hate you, you know” Dipper said and Bill’s eye widened as he turned back around to face him. </p><p>“What?” He questioned and Dipper shrugged uncomfortably. </p><p>“I don’t hate you for hurting me, it was an accident after all” He remarked which just increased the confused look on Bill’s face. Dipper ducked his head in embarrassment, he was probably way of course on that. </p><p>“Sorry, it just seemed like you were upset over it. Forget I said anything” He mumbled only to glance upwards when he felt a hand on his head. Bill smiled down at him fondly as he almost seemed to rub his head. </p><p>“Thanks, Pinetree, that means a lot” He said softly and Dipper grinned shyly up at him. Bill snapped his fingers and a stump grew up from the ground next to the one Dipper was sitting on. He flopped down on to it and gave Dipper another soft look. </p><p>“I think I owe you some answers” He remarked and Dipper tilted his head curiously. </p><p>“Answers?” Dipper asked and Bill nodded as he held out his hand and an image of Journal #3 appeared. </p><p>“The Author of the Journals had reached a roadblock in his research when he found ancient carvings on how to summon me” Bill explained as the Journal was replaced with an image of cave drawings. </p><p>“He summoned me and I became his muse in a sense” He remarked before his fist clenched angrily dispelling the image. </p><p>“I gave him everything he could ever want, answers to all of his burning questions, the ability to use magic and so much more. But when I needed his help he turned his back on me” He growled out angrily and Dipper’s eyes widened in shock and slight anger, why would the Author do that?</p><p>“He cut himself off from me, shut the project we were working on down, hid his Journals and then disappeared” Bill continued as he let his hand fall to his side only to blink in surprise when he felt Dipper grab it, he glanced over at him and saw that he had an extremely intense look on his face. </p><p>“Why did he do that to you?” He asked with a searching look in his eyes and Bill grinned humorlessly. </p><p>“His partner got hurt in the process, not physically and it was honestly his own fault it happened, I mean seriously who has the foresight to put caution tape on the floor and then ignores it?” He remarked as he shook his head baffled, humans would never cease to confuse him.</p><p>“But regardless Sixer put the blame on me for not being honest with my intentions instead of himself for going against my wishes of getting his friend involved in the project, I knew it would end in disaster but he had always been very stubborn” He grumbled and Dipper hummed thoughtfully. </p><p>“What was the project about?” He asked and an almost sombre look appeared on Bill’s face. </p><p>“We were building a portal, Sixer believed it would allow him to better understand the weirdness of this town but truthfully I had been planning on using it to physically cross over into this dimension” He explained and Dipper tilted his head curiously. </p><p>“Why did you need a portal? If you were teaching him magic couldn’t he have done that summoning spell you were talking about?” He asked and Bill chuckled softly as he gazed down at him fondly. </p><p>“Sixer had a rather weak core, he could learn a few spells but he would never have been strong enough to actually summon me. Not that he honestly would have even if he was able to” He explained which earns him a confused look from Dipper.</p><p>“Why wouldn’t he want to? If you were his friend wouldn’t he have wanted to help you?” He asked and Bill let out a humorously chuckle.</p><p>“I don’t know if you’ve noticed Pinetree but I’m a demon, and generally not that nice of a guy. I’ve done some pretty messed up stuff in my life so most people generally don’t want me sticking around” He remarked as he leaned his head back to stare up at the colourless sky.</p><p>“Besides Sixer and I weren’t really friends, he wanted my knowledge and I wanted his help. You could say our relationship, if you could even call it that, was nothing more than a business one” He continued his tone of voice becoming flat. Dipper frowned softly to himself, he could tell that there was more to it than that but he decided not to point that out. </p><p>“So he was just going to throw you away once he got what he wanted?” He asked and Bill simply nodded which sparked some anger in him as he thought about his own relationship with Stan, it felt uncomfortably similar. He did everything for that man and all he got back was hatred. </p><p>“I can’t believe I idolized him” He muttered bitterly to himself and Bill hummed thoughtfully as he glanced back at it him.</p><p>“Don’t beat yourself up Pinetree, you were new to the supernatural and that journal saved your life a number of times so it makes sense that you would have such high expectations for the author” He reasoned and Dipper pursed his lips in thought before nodding in agreement. </p><p>“I spent so long wanting to meet this guy to ask him so many of my questions but now? I kinda want to punch him” He remarked offhandedly and Bill let out a startled laugh. </p><p>“I can’t say that that doesn’t sound very appealing, and hey if you still want to try and find him I can push you in the right direction” He remarked in amusement and Dipper raised an eyebrow at him.</p><p>“Couldn’t you just tell me where and who he is since you're all-knowing?” He asked hopefully but Bill just chuckled.</p><p>“Where would the fun in that be?” He asked teasingly which earned him a pout from Dipper to which he just chuckled once again.</p><p>“Here let go of my hand and I’ll show you something” He remarked and Dipper blushed when he realized that he was still holding Bill’s hand. He quickly let it go and glanced away shyly, Bill just smirked fondly as he held up a finger and a purple light came out of the tip.</p><p>“Now take out the journal and open it to a random page” He requested which Dipper complied with. Bill pointed his finger at the page and Dipper’s eyes widened when he saw new writing appear on the page.</p><p>“Sixer thought he was being all clever when he started writing in invisible ink but it honestly wasn’t that hard to notice, just shine a black light over it and you’ll unlock a whole new side to the journal” Bill remarked and Dipper’s eyes sparkled curiously.  </p><p>“Now let's get back to our lesson, I want to teach you some healing spells” Bill stated as he got up from the stump allowing it to sink back down into the ground. Dipper nodded in agreement as he slipped the journal back into his sweater, he would look more into it when he woke up.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. New Discovery and Road Blocks</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>As soon as he woke up he went hunting for a black light which thankfully wasn’t that hard since Stan had used a bunch of them for the party last night. He gasped softly as he flipped through the Journal and saw all of the hidden details, he paused on a page that showed a secret bunker. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is this where your hiding?” He muttered to himself as he stared down at the page thoughtfully only to jump in surprise when the lights were suddenly turned on. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you doing in the dark?” Mabel asked curiously and Dipper turned to look at her with a slight grin on his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come look at this” He instructed eagerly and she raised a confused eyebrow before complying and sitting down next to him as he turned the black light back on. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Invisible ink!” She gasped in shock as her eyes scanned the page in awe. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think we could find some clues of the author here” Dipper remarked as he pointed at the bunker and she nodded excitedly as she glanced back up at him with a wide smile on her face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How did you discover this?” She asked eagerly and Dipper tensed slightly, he wasn’t ready to tell her about Bill just yet. He didn’t want her forcing herself into something that was so special to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I noticed it last night due to all of the black lights at the party” He lied smoothly and she nodded in understanding. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I want to check it out today” He continued and Mabel grinned excitedly as she bounced in place. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We can go right after breakfast” She announced before grabbing his arm and dragging him down into the kitchen, he couldn’t help but laugh at her enthusiasm even without sugar she was full of endless energy.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>“Woah! Where’s the fire?” Stan asked as he took a seat at the table where Mabel and Dipper were practically inhaling their food. Mabel paused in her eating to give him a bright grin, completely oblivious to the milk dripping down her chin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We're going to check out a secret bunker in the woods!” She announced cheerfully and a frown quickly appeared on Stan’s face as he shook his head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t think so, I need you two here at the shop. I let you off easy yesterday because of the party but not today” He stated seriously as he crossed his arms and while Mabel whined childishly Dipper glared at him in frustration. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He furrowed his eyebrows in thought as he stared at the kid's eyes, something about them looked different. He didn’t have time to ponder on it as Mabel distracted him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please Grukle Stan? Pretty pretty pretty please?” Mabel pleaded as she attempted to use her puppy dog eyes on him but he just shook his head stubbornly and avoided looking her in the eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No buts” He said seriously which earned him an overdramatic huff from Mabel as she crossed her arms and pouted. He grinned and ruffled her hair fondly before glancing back at Dipper who was still glaring at him so he raised a challenging eyebrow at him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Problem?” He challenged only to blink in confusion when for the briefest of moments a red ring seemed to appear around Dipper’s pupils. It was gone in the blink of an eye so he just assumed that it was just the lighting playing tricks on him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not at all” Dipper almost seemed to growl as he picked up his bowl and dumped it in the sink before storming off. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dipper wait!” Mabel called out as she raced after her brother while Stan stared after them with a confused expression on his face, ever since the whole Gideon fiasco Dipper had been acting differently and he just couldn’t figure out why. The runt couldn’t have left that big of an impact on him, right?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe I should talk to him about it” He muttered to himself thoughtfully only to quickly shake his head to dismiss that thought. Dipper was a man he could handle himself just fine. And with that decision made he headed off to get ready for the shop to open for the day, hopefully, those Agents wouldn’t be stalking around again like yesterday.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Slipping Away... Again</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Dipper grit his teeth in annoyance as he flipped through the Journal, only tearing his eyes away from it when a customer approached. He placed the small black light he was using down so that he could rub his face tiredly before peeking through his fingers so that he could shoot Stan an annoyed look, not that the man noticed seeing as he was to busy conning people. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He finally had a lead and Stan just had to get in his way like he always did. He lowered his hand and thoughtfully stroked the spine of his own Journal as he tried to think if there were any spells that could help him in this instance before finally sighing in defeat as he acknowledged the fact that there wasn’t one. He would have to ask Bill about it tonight. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Someone’s angry” Wendy remarked as she flopped down onto the seat next to him. Dipper sighed as he flopped his head onto the Journal as he turned to look at her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mabel and I finally got a lead on the author of the Journals but Stan won’t let us go investigate it” He grumbled and Wendy tilted her head thoughtfully as she glanced at Stan before she turned back towards him with a mischievous grin on her face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I could distract him for you if you want? Give you and Mabel the chance to slip away” She offered and he immediately sat up with a surprised look on his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Really?” He asked eagerly and her grin simply grew as she nodded. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course man” She said casually and Dipper smiled widely as he slipped the Journal and black light into his sweater. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You're the best Wendy!” He called out as he rushed over towards Mabel who was sweeping, he grabbed her arm and started dragging her out of the Shack. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dipper? What's going on?” She asked as she attempted to keep pace with him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wendy’s distracting Stan so that we can slip away to go investigate the bunker” He said and Mabel grinned ecstatically as they both rushed off into the woods.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>“Isn’t this the same place you found the Journal in the first place?” Mabel questioned as she walked around the tree curiously, Dipper just hummed in agreement as he glanced up from the Journal. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes it is, makes you wonder why the author hid it out here and not in his bunker” He mused and Mabel tilted her head thoughtfully. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe it was to throw people off his scent, I mean you only found out about the bunker because of the black lights we had at the party without that you never would have thought to look here” She remarked and Dipper glanced away as he nodded in agreement, still not willing to admit that the party had nothing to do with his discovery</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So how do we get in?” Mabel asked as she went back to walking around the tree, Dipper sighed as he glanced back at the Journal. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It doesn’t say” He muttered in frustration and Mabel huffed equally frustrated before she started running around the tree as if that would help her find a clue. He glanced back up at her in amusement before his eyes landed on a peculiar looking tree branch. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey Mabel, does that tree branch look like a lever to you?” He asked as he slipped the Journal back into his sweater. Mabel stopped running and swayed slightly from dizziness before she glanced up at the branch he was looking at. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It does!” She gasped in awe as she came to stand next to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How are we going to reach it?” She asked and Dipper hummed thoughtfully before he glanced at her with a slight smirk on his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Grappling Hook?” He suggested and Mabel grinned wickedly as she reached into her sleeve pocket. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Grappling Hook!” She announced as she pulled it out of her sleeve with a flourish. Dipper just grinned as she shot at the lever, thankfully the Grappling Hook had enough force behind it as it forced the lever upwards. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes!” They both cheered excitedly only to gasp in shock when the ground suddenly started moving as a staircase appeared around the tree leading down into the bunker. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let's do this” Dipper said eagerly as he held out his fist to Mabel who bumped it equally as excited before they headed straight into the bunker without a second thought. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why are there so many stairs!” Mabel whined a few minutes later and Dipper simply chuckled. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe because it’s a secret underground bunker?” He suggested which just earned him a pout from his sister. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This many stairs should be illegal” She grumbled to which Dipper just chuckled some more. Eventually, they reached the end of the stairs and came to a small room that looked like a fallout bunker. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Woah” Dipper and Mabel said in unison as they glanced around the room, Dipper had expected a lot of things for this bunker but this wasn’t one of them. He stood in front of a shelf that had over sixty years worth of rations as Mabel stuck her head into a barrel. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Haha! My face feels fuzzy!” Mabel giggled and Dipper glanced at her only to raise a concerned eyebrow when he saw that her face was covered in caterpillars. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why?” He questioned and Mabel just smiled brightly as she shrugged, he just shook his head in exasperation as he glanced back at the shelf. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s like he was preparing for a disaster, but what kinda disaster wold need supplies for over sixty years?” He questioned to himself as Mabel wandered off He rubbed at his chin thoughtfully, was it not a disaster he was hiding from but Bill?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey check this out Dipper, it’s old-timey candy!” Mabel called out cheerfully and Dipper glanced at her and saw that she was standing in front of a locker filled with weapons but her focus was on the Smez dispenser in her hand. He walked over curiously and as Mabel grimaced at the dust-covered candy that she continued to eat he picked up a simple looking dagger and slipped it into his sweater without a second thought, just in case he thought as he glanced away from the locker and noticed something on the ground. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mabel check this out” He said as he picked up the open can which earned him a confused look from his sister. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think this can was opened recently” He explained and her eyes widened in shock. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The author might still be alive, down here!” She exclaimed eagerly and he smirked in agreement before his eyes drifted away from her as he noticed an old map of Gravity Falls moving slightly. His eyes narrowed thoughtfully as he approached it before ripping it off the wall revealing an open hatch cover. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think I know where he might have gone” He said as he turned to look at Mabel with a smirk on his face and Mabel grinned widely as she bounced in place excitedly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ready to delve into the unknown?” He asked as he held the hatch open and Mabel nodded in determination with a wide smile still on her face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Always” She said cheerfully as she shimmed into the tunnel and Dipper trailed after her with a slightly wicked grin on his face, your days of hiding are numbered coward he thought darkly as the gold in his eyes brightened ever so slightly. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Violent Encounter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>When they reached the end of the tunnel they came to a crazy looking room that looked like it was made entirely out of cubes with strange symbols on them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Watch your step, there’s no telling what this room can do” Dipper said seriously as he carefully made his way across the room. Mabel hummed in agreement only to immediately step on something. The hatch slammed shut and locked, the symbols on the other wall squares started to glow red, a buzzer sounds and the room starts to shake. Some of the squares even started to poke into the room. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dipper what do we do?!” Mabel cried out fearfully as they pressed their back against the wall, Dipper grunted in frustration as he quickly flipped through the Journal with the black light held in his hand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Here look for these four symbols!” He instructed as he showed her the book. She nodded as they both ran off in a desperate search for the symbols. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Got one!” Mabel called out as she stomped on one before rushing off to find another. Dipper grunted as he hit a symbol and glanced up as he noticed the other one, it was too far out of his reach. He glanced at the black light in his hand then at Mabel who was distracted hitting the third symbol. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>“Resurgemus” </em>
  </b>
  <span>He said and a pale white light appeared around the black light, he put all of his efforts into and it went speeding towards the symbol smacking it with enough force to work. Unfortunately, that also made it break, hopefully, they wouldn’t need it anymore. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Quickly Mabel!” He called out as the door open, they rushed over and just barely managed to squeeze through before they could get crushed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That was way to close” Mabel said as she let out a sigh of relief, Dipper grunted in agreement. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is why we watch where we're going” He said seriously but Mabel just grinned sheepishly before she walked off to explore the new room they were in. He let out a long-suffering sigh, Mabel was going to be the death of him. He shook his head before he began looking around the room as well, it appeared to be some kind of surveillance room. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He walked up to a metal closet looking thing curiously only to suddenly feel something push him into it and the door shut, he whirled around shocked as he listened to his sisters giggling. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mabel this isn’t funny!” He snapped as he pounded on the door but Mabel just continued to giggle. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s kinda funny” She said cheerfully and Dipper huffed as he glanced around the box before reaching up and pulling on the cord hoping some light would help him get out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Aahh!” He shouted in alarm as water gushed down on him before hot air blasted him into the side of the box. A red light flashes and tone sounds, a sign reading “Decontamination Complete” flashes and the doors open revealing a wrecked underground room. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Whoa, Mabel you should check this out!” He called out as he glanced around curiously. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nuh-uh, you're not tricking me that easily Dipper” Mabel stated as she messed around with some of the stuff in the control room. Dipper just rolled his eyes as he took a step into the other room only to stiffen up when he heard growling and a huge looking shadow on the wall. He whirled around and pounded at the door urgently. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mabel open this fucking door right now!” He shouted urgently as he glanced behind himself anxiously as the shadow grew closer. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Language” Mabel said simply as she fiddled with a metal briefcase, completely oblivious to sheer panic in her brother's voice. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mabel!” He shouted angrily, he didn’t think he was being literal when he said she would be the death of him but apparently he was. He cursed under his breath when he realized she wasn’t going to open the door any time soon so he took off hoping to find somewhere else to hide only to hit a dead end.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He slipped his hand into his sweater and gripped the dagger tightly, he wasn’t going to let some monster take him down so easily. He tensed as it grew closer only to blink in confusion when the shadow of a man appeared out of nowhere and started fighting the monster. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Back, back you heinous beast!” A man shouted before he came around the corner and Dipper got a look at him, he looked vaguely familiar but Dipper couldn’t place why. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I just ripped out a monster’s tongue” He said casually as he threw said tongue down onto the ground. Dipper slowly removed his hand from his sweater as he eyed the man thoughtfully, was this the author? Something about him just didn’t seem right. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hurry now, I scared it off, but it’ll regenerate” The man said urgently as he started to lead him away, the uncomfortable feeling grew the longer he was near the man. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I wasn’t expecting a guest. I’ve been down here for a very long time. Years! Weeks, maybe! I miss orange juice” The man rambled as they walked and Dipper slowly brought his hand up to his ear hoping that Bill could confirm if this was the author before he gave anything away. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s not him, be careful Pinetree” Bill stated seriously and Dipper’s eyes narrowed as he let his hand slip back to his side if this wasn’t the author then who was he?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So… who are you?” He finally asked as he eyed the man suspiciously who paused to turn and face him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s been so long that I have forgotten what my name is” He said as he furrowed his eyebrows in thought before he shook his head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Besides we have more pressing matters” He said seriously and Dipper tensed a little when the man placed a hand on his shoulder. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s one of my experiments, a shapeshifter. Able to take the form of anyon or anything it sees” He explained and Dipper’s eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion, shapeshifter huh? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It broke free from a cage of solid steel! I’ve gone half crazy trying to catch the creature alone. But now you’re here! Will you help me catch it!?” He asked seriously and Dipper bit his lip as he nodded, who knows what he would do if he refused. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you, my boy, now the beast must have some weakness we can exploit. I just wish I had my research on me. But alas, I lost my journals so many years ago” He said sadly as he stood back up and rubbed at his chin thoughtfully missing the deadpanned look on Dipper’s face, lost huh? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s a real shame, though speaking of journals I did find one this summer it had all kinds of information on the supernatural oddities of Gravity Falls” He mentioned offhandedly and he watched as greed flashed in the man's eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s one of mine! You wouldn’t happen to have it on you would you?” He asked eagerly and Dipper pretended to look upset. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry my great unce took it from me the other day and I haven’t gotten it back” He said sadly and he had to withhold a smirk at the anger that flashed in the man's eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is that lump in your sweater?” The man asked suspiciously and a fake cheerful smile appeared on Dipper's face to hide his sudden spike of nerves. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s my own journal, I was inspired by yours and all the oddities in it so began documenting the things that I’ve discovered as well” He explained as he pulled out his own Journal while making sure Journal #3 was still hidden. The man grabbed it eagerly only to frown in confusion when he was met with blank pages. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There’s nothing here” He said as he turned to shoot the boy a glare but the brunette just gave him another smile. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I wrote in invisible ink to keep my sister from snooping” Dipper explained and mentally smirked as the man grew even more frustrated, this was actually kind of fun. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you have a black light?” He asked but Dipper just shook his head with another sad look. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Unfortunately I broke my black light in the cube room” He explained sadly and his mental smirk grew as he saw the mans eyebrow twitch. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s very unfortunate” He grumbled as he handed Dipper his Journal back, a little rougher than necessary, who quickly slipped it back into his sweater. The man turned away from him and started muttering to himself so he took the opportunity to place his hand by his ear again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is he the shapeshifter?” He whispered hoping the man wouldn’t hear him over his own muttering. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes he is, look at the can by your feet” Bill said and Dipper glanced down and noticed an open can of beans, the man on the front was the exact same man standing in front of him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You should get out of here while you can” Bill said seriously and Dipper hummed in agreement as he slowly lowered his hand from his ear so that he could come up with a plan. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I should really go check on my sister and make sure she’s okay” He finally said and the shapeshifter stiffened as he turned back to face him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nonsense I need your help to take care of the shapeshifter, if she’s in the surveillance room she will be fine” He said dismissively and Dipper pretend to look indecisive. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you sure?” He asked and the shapeshifter nodded as he placed what was probably supposed to be a comforting hand on his shoulder, all it really did was make his skin crawl. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course my boy, besides this beast is not something a lady should see” He said reassuringly and Dipper nodded in agreement as he slipped his hand back into his sweater. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your right I wouldn’t want her to see this either” He remarked as he pulled the dagger out of his sweater and stabbed it into the shapeshifters arm. Green blood bubbled up from the wound as the beast howled in agony, he pulled the dagger out of his arm as he jerked away from it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You should get a better disguise” He growled as he kicked the empty can at the monster who growled angrily. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is that so? Then how about I show you my true form?” The shapeshifter suggested as his body jerked and he turned into a truly disgusting looking beast with a mocking laugh. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How do you like my true form? Go on, admit it, you like it!” He prompted in a much deeper voice than before, Dipper just glared as his grip on the dagger tightened. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But I must ask, what gave me away?” He questioned as he slowly circled the boy curiously, there was something quite unusual about the boy but he just couldn’t figure out what. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A lot of things” Dipper said simply as he turned his head so that the shapeshifter was always in his line of sight. </span>
</p><p><span>“Does it have to do with whoever you were whispering to?” He asked as he glanced around trying to see if there was anyone nearby but he couldn’t see or sense anyone. </span> <span>He glanced back at the boy who had shifted into a better fighting stance and that’s when he noticed the ring on the boys left hand, a ring that had a very familiar-looking symbol on it. </span></p><p>
  <span>“That symbol on your ring… you’ve made a deal with a demon haven’t you boy?” He questioned curiously but all he did was clench his fist tightly and sharpen his glare. He chuckled loudly in amusement. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into boy, that demon drove the real author absolutely mad” He said mockingly only to tense slightly when the boy smirked at him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am well aware of what I’m doing” He said darkly as the golden ring around his pupils flashed red briefly which was the only warning he got before the kid lunged at him with his dagger. He shouted in agony as he was slashed at before he turned back into his human form and started wrestling with the boy, knocking the dagger out of his hand in the process. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you going to do now, huh?” He questioned mockingly as he pinned the boy to the ground who bared his teeth threateningly as the ring around his pupil turned red, he glanced at the boy's actual ring and noticed that the triangle was also glowing red. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is different then what happened with the sixer-fingered nerd” He mused curiously as he attempted to take the ring off only to hiss when he was burned by the heat it was admitting. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just what kind of deal did you make?” He questioned as he glanced back at the boy who was still glaring at him harshly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wouldn’t you like to know” He growled out and the shape shifted hummed as he sat up a little to get more comfortable, ignoring the pained grunt that earned him from the boy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What exactly do you have that would make a demon want to make a deal with you?” He questioned curiously as he studied the boys face trying to figure it out only to tense slightly when the boy suddenly smirked at him, he hadn’t noticed that when he shifted around the boy had leaned his head closer to his ring. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll show you” He hissed threatening as he twisted his wrists so that his palms were facing him. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>“Ignis inspiratione!” </em>
  </b>
  <span>He shouted and the shapeshifter howled in agony as flames shot from the boys hands and burned him. He staggered off of the boy as he clawed at his face to try and stop the burning feeling. He glanced up when he heard footsteps and saw that the boy was now standing in front of him his a wicked look on his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you going to kill me boy?” He hissed angrily only to shiver in fear when the boy let out a crazed laugh and his eyes turned fully gold. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>“Ignis inspiratione” </em>
  </b>
  <span>He hissed out and all the shapeshifter could do was scream as he was slowly burned alive.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dipper blinked out of the daze he had fallen into and stared down down at the smouldering corpse at his feet, for some reason he felt nothing for the life he had just taken. He stared down at his hands as they shook slightly, from fear or adrenaline he couldn’t tell.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>“Sana incremento” </em>
  </b>
  <span>He mumbled offhandedly as he continued to stare at his hands. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you alright Pinetree?” Bill immediately asked worriedly and Dipper nodded a little to himself as he let his hands fall to his sides. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m… I’m okay” He mumbled more to himself than to Bill as he flopped down on the ground and stared at the smouldering corpse in front of him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bill… I just killed someone… Why… why don’t I feel anything?” He asked anxiously and Bill let out a soft sigh as he tried to think of what to say to comfort the teen. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know Pinetree, I think you’ve just numbed yourself to it since you had to do it to survive. It might hit you later on once your body stops running on adrenaline” He said softly and Dipper nodded a little in understanding. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m so tired” He mumbled softly as he rested his head on his knees. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s get you home Pinetree, Shooting Star is probably wondering where you are” Bill said comfortingly and Dipper’s eyes widened in fear. Mabel! What would she think if she saw what he had done? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey Pinetree deep breaths” Bill quickly instructed when the teen started to hyperventilate. Dipper sucked in a painful breath as his body trembled slightly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She doesn’t need to know” Bill said soothingly and Dipper took in a couple more deep breaths as he nodded in agreement. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She doesn’t need to know” He mumbled in agreement as he slowly pulled himself back to his feet, picking up his dagger that had been lost in the might in the process. He calmed his racing heart beat a little bit before he headed back in the direction he had come from. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No one needs to know” He mumbled to himself as he continued his trek back towards the surveillance room. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Explosive Confrontation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When he got back to the surveillance room the door was thankfully open so he was able to enter without any hassle, but once he did he noticed Mabel was sitting with her back to him as she stared at something in front of her. </p><p>“Mabel?” He questioned and she spun around in her chair to face him with an unreadable expression on her face that immediately put him on edge. </p><p>“What did you do?” She asked tensely and he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he slowly walked closer. </p><p>“What are you talking about?” He questioned and her eyes narrowed slightly before she pushed herself backwards slightly so that he could look at the screen she had been looking at. An icy chill ran down his spine as he saw the smouldering corpse of the shapeshifter on the screen, this was the <em> surveillance room </em> Mabel had seen <em> everything.  </em></p><p>“It’s not what it looks like!” He said quickly as he tried to think of a way out of this while Mabel’s eyes just narrowed further as she stood up from her seat. </p><p>“Dipper I just watched you <em> kill </em>someone with fire that came out of your hands! What is it supposed to look like?” She questioned loudly as she stalked over towards him and Dipper opened his mouth to defend himself only for a thought to suddenly hit him. </p><p>“Wait… you were watching the whole time...” He muttered to himself, ignoring Mabel as she came to stand in front of him. Suddenly a spark of anger flared up in himself as he glared at his sister. </p><p>“You sat there as I fought for my life and did nothing!” He snapped angrily and all Mabel did was glare back at him with just as much anger. </p><p>“Don’t turn this back around on me Dipper Pines!” She shouted as she jabbed her finger into his chest painfully. </p><p>“I just watched as you stabbed someone unprovoked only for them to turn into a monster and when he had you pinned to the ground you shot <em> fire </em>from your hands and killed him!” She continued to shout as she jabbed him in the chest until he felt his back hit the wall, he grit his teeth in agitation as he shoved her hand away from him. </p><p>“He was a monster!” He snapped defensively but this only seemed to anger Mabel more. </p><p>“He was a sentient being and you killed him!” She shouted and Dipper’s anger continued to grow at her lack of concern for his own well being. </p><p>“He would have killed me!” He shouted back and she took a slight step back as her face paled, it seems like she had only just realized this fact. The anger seemed to drain out of her but there was still a tenseness to her posture. </p><p>“Was there no other way?” She mumbled more to herself than to him but he still answered anyway. </p><p>“He was dangerous Mabel even if I had been able to get away, what was going to stop him from hunting me down? As a shapeshifter, he could take on the form of anyone to get to me” He explained seriously and she let out a sad sigh as she nodded in understanding. </p><p>“You're right” She said in an unhappy tone but before he could try and comfort her she turned to look at him with narrowed eyes once again. </p><p>“You still haven’t explained how you were able to shoot fire out of your hands” She said seriously and Dipper mentally cursed, he hadn’t wanted to tell Mabel about his magic just yet but it looks like he didn’t really have a choice in the matter. </p><p>“I’ve been learning how to do magic” He explained and she blinked a couple of times at him in confusion. </p><p>“What?” She finally questioned and a small grin appeared on Dipper’s face. </p><p>“I've been learning how to do magic” He explained once again and her confusion turned to excitement as she bounced a little in place. </p><p>“Really?” She gasped eagerly and he nodded quickly as his grin grew slightly, maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as he thought it would be. However, Mabel’s excitement suddenly disappeared as a searching look appeared in her eyes. </p><p>“How?” She asked and now it was Dipper’s turn to blink at her in confusion. </p><p>“What?” He questioned and her eyes narrowed slightly in thought. </p><p>“How are you learning magic?” She questioned and his eyes narrowed as his smile fully slipped off of his face. </p><p>“That doesn’t matter” He stated seriously as he crossed his arms and a flash of anger sparked in Mabel’s eyes. </p><p>“You don’t just decide to learn magic and then start shooting fire around like it’s nothing, you're not getting this from a book someone’s been teaching you” She said seriously and he felt himself stiffen slightly. </p><p>“Who is it?” She questioned as she stared him down but all he did was look away stubbornly. </p><p>“It doesn’t matter” He practically growled in his annoyance, why couldn’t she just be excited for him instead of integrating him it’s not like he was doing anything wrong. Since his head was turned he didn’t notice the way that Mabel’s eyes trailed away to look at his ring or the way her eyes widened ever so slightly. </p><p>“When we were in Grunk Stan’s mind you wandered away from the rest of us… what were you doing?” She questioned and he blinked in confusion as he turned to face her only to see that she was staring him down with such intensity that if he wasn’t already pressed against the wall he might have stumbled back. </p><p>“I was looking for the combination to the safe” He said but the intense look in Mabel’s eyes only grew.</p><p>“No you weren’t” She stated seriously and before Dipper could question her on this she reached towards him and yanked his left hand towards her so that she could get a real good look at his ring or to be more precise the golden triangle on it. </p><p>“Dipper…” She said slowly as she tore her eyes away from the ring to glare at him furiously. </p><p>“Did you make a deal with Bill?” She asked slowly with a dangerous glint in her eyes and Dipper scowled angrily as he yanked his hand out of Mabel's grasp. </p><p>“So what if I did?” He shot back defensively and Mabel’s eyes widened briefly at the admission before they narrowed dangerously once again. </p><p>“Dipper he’s a dangerous demon who invaded our uncle’s mind for Gideon!” She shouted and Dipper grit his teeth as a protective feeling swelled in his chest. </p><p>“Gideon made a deal with him, he was just following it until I made a better one with him” He snapped defensively and Mabel hissed as she jabbed her finger into his chest once again. </p><p>“Why would you do that?!” She questioned angrily and Dipper shoved her away from him angrily as the ring around his pupils started flashing red. </p><p>“Because he made me feel like I mattered! That I was more than the hated child without a real identity!” He shouted furiously and her eyes widened in fear as she stumbled back a few steps. </p><p>“What?” She mumbled softly, a vast contrast to the shouting she had just been doing, and Dipper took in a deep steadying breath as he squared his shoulders. </p><p>“There are days where I forgot what my own name is because I was never allowed to be Mason! It’s always been Dipper and I hate it! I want my identity back but no one cares about me because I’m the unwanted child! I AM HATED BY EVERYONE WHILE EVERYONE LOVES YOU!” He screamed furiously as he stalked closer to Mabel who stumbled back in fearful shock. </p><p>“Dipper-” She tried to say but Dipper just shook his head furiously. </p><p>“Bill is the first person to make feel like I’m not some spare that shouldn’t have been born and that this birthmark isn’t a curse I should resent but a gift that symbolizes my power” He growled out and Mabel’s fear slowly bled back into anger as she stopped stumbling backwards and instead stood her ground. </p><p>“He’s just manipulating you!” She hissed out and Dipper’s anger spiked dangerously.</p><p>“You don’t even know him!” He snapped defensively as he jabbed his finger into her chest only for her to smack it away. </p><p>“He’s a monster!” She shouted as she crowded into his personal space. </p><p>“He’s my friend!” He shouted back only to shout in pain/shock when Mabel suddenly slapped him across the face. </p><p>“And I’m your sister or have you forgotten that! Why do you feel the need to turn to some demon over me!” She snapped angrily and Dipper placed a hand over his cheek as the fire that had been slowly growing inside of him suddenly stilled. He stared at Mabel as she took in a bunch of deep breaths to try and calm herself down.</p><p>“Give me the ring” She finally demanded as she held her hand out and Dipper let his own hand fall back to his side as his eyes narrowed dangerously. </p><p>“And why should I do that?” He asked rhetorically as he crossed his arms which earned him a frustrated huff from his sister. </p><p>“It’s corrupting you!” She snapped but all Dipper did was roll his eyes which only increased her frustration. </p><p>“Your eyes are turning red!” She shouted in frustration and while Dipper blinked a little in surprise he ultimately just turned his head to the side with an uncaring expression on his face. </p><p>“So what?” He sniffed uncaringly and Mabel let out a strangled noise of pure frustration. </p><p>“Dipper this has gone on long enough!” She shouted as she got right into her brother's face who just stared back at her emotionlessly.  </p><p>“I must agree Shooting Star” Bill suddenly said and Mabel stumbled away from Dipper in shock while he just glanced at his ring in surprise before he winced slightly, oh yeah he had been so exhausted on his way back to the surveillance room that he had forgotten to do the counterspell.</p><p>“Show yourself you isosceles monster!” Mabel shouted as she whipped her head around trying to find the demon only to glance back at Dipper when he started to laugh. </p><p>“He’s not really here” He said in a mildly mocking tone as he held up his hand to show off his ring and the triangle that was once again back to its original golden colour, Mabel glared angrily at the ring. </p><p>“What are doing to my brother!” She snapped angrily which earned her an amused hum from Bill. </p><p>“I’m simply helping him reach his full potential” He explained simply and Mabel squared her shoulders as she stared at the ring with a suspicious look in her eyes. </p><p>“And what potential is that?” She questioned challenging.</p><p>“Pinetree has been blessed by the stars, his affinity for magic is astronomical for a human and with the proper guidance he could become one of the most powerful beings in the multiverse” He explained passionately and Dipper blushed a little while Mabel gaped a little in surprise before her eyes narrowed dangerously once again. </p><p>“You just want to use him for your own selfish needs!” She accused angrily which only earned her an annoyed sigh from the demon. </p><p>“Believe it or not Shooting Star but I’m not entirely evil I do have a heart and I care a great deal for your brother so I would never intentionally hurt him” He tried to reason which made Dipper’s blush grow and Mabel’s anger to climb higher. </p><p>“I don’t believe you!” She shrieked furiously and Bill let out another sigh. </p><p>“This conversation isn’t getting us anywhere, I think it’s time to consider plan B” Bill said in a tired tone of voice and Dipper tilted his head thoughtfully as he glanced away from Mabel so that he could stare down at his ring. </p><p>“Plan B?” He questioned curiously and Bill hummed in agreement. </p><p>“If you are willing Pinetree there is a spell that can erase memories, if I coach you through it you will be able to erase this whole situation from Shooting Star’s mind” He explained and while Dipper’s eyes widened in surprise Mabel’s widened in horror. </p><p>“There’s a spell for that?” He questioned intrigued and Bill hummed in confirmation. </p><p>“You wouldn’t dare!” Mabel snapped as she took a step back in alarm as she noticed the thoughtful look in her brother's eyes. </p><p>“Ultimately the decision is yours Pinetree” Bill said simply and Dipper hummed thoughtfully as he glanced from his ring to Mabel as he pondered on what he should do. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Erased</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Dipper glanced thoughtfully at Mabel as she skipped cheerfully alongside him while humming a sweet tune as they made their way back to the shack. He couldn’t help but wonder if he had done the right thing back at the bunker. </span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Dipper let’s talk about this” Mabel said worriedly as she took another step back and Dipper made a noncommittal noise as he glanced from her to his ring and back a few times before coming to decision.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Bill… what’s the spell?” He asked softly and Mabel stiffened up as her eyes widened in horror while Bill simply hummed in approval. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Dipper!” Mabel cried out in alarm but Dipper just ignored her as he focused on his ring. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Simply say </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>Memoria vim extrermina </em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span>while focusing on the specific memories you want to be erased” Bill explained and Dipper hummed in understanding as he focused back on Mabel who’s fearful expression suddenly turned to an angered one. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Dipper Pines don’t you fucking dare!” She shouted angrily and Dipper was briefly stunned by the swearing, Mabel hated swears. Eventually, he shook his head to dismiss those thoughts as he once again focused on Mabel. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I have to do this for my own safety Mabel, I can't have you telling anyone about Bill or my magic” He said seriously and Mabel shook her head stubbornly. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Trusting him won’t keep you safe!” She snapped angrily but Dipper just grits his teeth as he held his hand outwards Mabel and attempted to concentrate. </span>
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</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“It’s for the best” He said simply as a silver light started to appear around his hand and Mabel’s anger quickly turned back to fear. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Dipper please” She attempted to beg but it did little to sway Dipper’s decision. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Sorry Mabel, </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>Memoria vim extrermina” </em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span>He said strongly as a silver light shot towards Mabel’s head, she attempted to get out of the way but it just followed her and a silver glow surrounded her head as her eyes glazed over slightly. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Now concentrate on the memories you want erased” Bill said and Dipper nodded as he thought of everything that had happened since they had entered the surveillance room for the first time, erasing Mabel locking him in the closet, seeing him kill the shapeshifter, their fight about Bill and his magic. Once he was done the silver light faded from Mabel's head and she slumped to the ground. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Is she okay?” He asked worriedly as he took a step towards his downed sister. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“She’s fine the magic is just taking effect, you should use the counterspell on the ring and come up with an excuse to tell her about why she was sleeping” He suggested and Dipper hummed in agreement. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Thanks for the help Bill” He said gratefully and Bill hummed in acknowledgement. </span>
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</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Anytime Pinetree” He said warmly and Dipper smiled happily. </span>
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</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>“</em>
  </b>
  <b>
    <em>Sana diminutio” </em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span>He said simply before he walked over towards the monitors and flipped off the camera’s so that Mabel wouldn’t see the smouldering corpse of the shapeshifter when she woke up, this is also when he noticed an old laptop that looked a little busted. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Interesting” He mused curiously as he picked it up to examine it more closely, maybe Soos would be able to fix it up for him it might have some vital information about the author.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A groan coming from the ground caught his attention and he quickly crouched down next to Mabel as she slowly blinked her eyes open and reached up to rub at her head. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“What happened?” She questioned as she sat up a little and Dipper gave her a soft look. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“When we escaped from the cube room you tripped and hit your head, you’ve been unconscious for a while” He explained gently and she groaned as she rubbed at her head again it certainly felt like she had hit her head. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“We should get you back to the shack” Dipper mused as he helped her stand back up and she pouted unhappily. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“But we didn’t even get to explore the bunker” She whined and Dipper gave her a reassuring look as he pulled out some metal looking briefcase thing only to open it and reveal it to be a laptop. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Don’t worry I found this laptop hopefully it’ll have some information on it, it’s a little busted right now but I’m sure Soos will be able to fix it up” He said reassuringly and Mabel grinned brightly at the idea. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“That’s great Dipper we have a new lead!” She said excitedly and he chuckled in agreement. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Now let’s get you back to the shack” He said and she nodded in agreement before she began skipping off with Dipper following close behind. </span>
  </em>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>“Come on slowpoke hurry it up it’s starting to get dark out and we don’t want to make Grunkle Stan worry too much about us” Mabel called out snapping Dipper out of his musing as he glanced towards her and saw that she was further up the path. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right” He said as he jogged up next to her and dismissed any of his doubts, it was a necessary sacrifice Mabel would understand one day why it had to be done when he was ready to broach the subject with her again but for now he was content to allow her to remain oblivious. It was for the best after all. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Nightmare</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dipper furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he glanced around. He was back in the bunker but he had just been in the shack, how did he get here? He rubbed his head as he tried to think of how he got here, he and Mabel had returned to the shack, Stan had scolded them for skipping work, Mabel’s distracted him with some kind of nonsense, he had gone up to the bedroom and then nothing. Before he could think on the matter more he was suddenly tackled to the ground. </p><p>“Aurgh!” He shouted in pain as his back hit the ground, he glanced up o see his attacker only to gasp when he saw that it was the shapeshifter. </p><p>“How ar-” He began to say only to be cut off by the shapeshifter wrapping his hands around his neck. </p><p>“No more nasty magic from you” He hissed as he squeezed harshly and Dipper desperately tried to suck in air as he scrambled with the hands of the shapeshifter but he wasn’t budging. His eyes widened in alarm when the shapeshifter suddenly turned into Mabel and she glared down at him angrily. </p><p>“Murderer” She hissed venomously as she tightened her hold on his neck and Dipper choked pitifully as his vision began to swim dangerously. </p><p>“Pinetree!” Bill shouted worriedly and in an instant, he was no longer in the bunker but in his clearing with Bill crouched in front of him with a concerned look on his face. He shot up and scrambled at his neck fearfully. </p><p>“Deep breaths” Bill instructed him softly as he gently rubbed his back, Dipper sucked in a bunch of deep breaths as his heart slowly stopped racing. His hands fell to his lap as he rested his head on Bill’s shoulder while his body slowly stopped trembling. </p><p>“What was that?” He asked as his breathing finally evened out and Bill hummed softly as he placed a gentle hand on the side of his neck. </p><p>“A nightmare and a violent one at that” He mumbled as he took note of the already forming bruises around Dipper neck. A soft silver light escaped his hand and into Dipper’s neck slowly healing the bruises. </p><p>“Thank you” Dipper mumbled as he felt the cool feeling of being healed and Bill simply hummed as he moved his hand away. </p><p>“I should have been here sooner so I could have prevented it all together” He muttered unhappily to himself and Dipper simply hummed as he lifted his head off of Bill’s shoulder so that he could look at him better. </p><p>“But you still protected me and that’s what matters” He said softly and Bill sighed before he gave him a soft smile. </p><p>“Right” He said simply and Dipper hummed pleased before he rested his head on Bill’s shoulder once again. They sat like that in comfortable silence for a while before a frown appeared on Dipper’s face. </p><p>“I’ve been thinking about what you told me” He mumbled and Bill raised a curious eyebrow. </p><p>“I’ve told you lots of things Pinetree, you’ve got to be more specific” He said teasingly and Dipper chuckled softly before falling silent as he reached up and took his hat off. </p><p>“I’ve been thinking about my name” He mumbled as he placed his hat on his lap and Bill hummed softly in understanding. </p><p>“I… I don’t know if I want to be Dipper anymore” He mumbled and Bill hummed as he waited patiently for him to continue. </p><p>“But I don’t know if I want to be Mason either” He said seriously and Bill nodded softly in understanding. </p><p>“Then who do you want to be?” He asked softly and Dipper sighed in frustration as he reached up to rub at his face thoughtfully. </p><p>“I don’t know” He muttered frustrated and Bill hummed as he rubbed his back gently. </p><p>“You don’t need to rush, your identity is yours and yours alone” He said comfortingly and Dipper nodded in understanding. </p><p>“Can you keep calling me Pinetree till I figure it out?” He asked hopefully and Bill chuckled softly as he wrapped his arm around his shoulders. </p><p>“Of course Pinetree” He said comfortingly and Dipper smiled happily. </p><p>“Now come on we have work to do” He announced as he helped Dipper up onto his feet and he tilted his head curiously. </p><p>“What are you teaching me tonight?” He asked eagerly and Bill grinned as he waved his hand and the chalkboard disappeared. </p><p>“Your encounter with the shapeshifter worried me a great deal so tonight I’m going to teach you how to fight” He stated and Dipper immediately perked up as his eye sparkled with interest. </p><p>“When do we start?” He asked eagerly and Bill smiled in approval as he slipped into a fighting stance. </p><p>“Right now” He stated and Dipper grinned as he attempted to mirror Bill’s stance it was a little clumsy but still good none the less, he had promise which was good Billmused as he glanced over him and stopped at the bright grin Dipper was giving him his heart softening at the sight. This little human was doing weird things to his heart and he hontesly didn;t know how to feel about it but he couldn't say he hated it.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Intent</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“We am I so tired? I’m already sleeping!” Dipper grumbled as he flopped down onto the ground and attempted to catch his breath, he and Bill had been working for what felt like hours and he was so drained. Bill chuckled as he sat down next to him and leaned back slightly so that he could gaze up at the colourless sky. </p><p>“You're giving yourself quite the work out so of course your tired” He said in amusement which earned him an unimpressed grumble from Dipper. </p><p>“Will I be this tired when I wake up?” He asked while silently dreading the answer and Bill grinned a little as he shook his head. </p><p>“No you’ll be fine come morning, after all, it’s your mind that's getting the real work out not your body” He said reassuringly and Dipper let out a relieved sigh. </p><p>“Which may be soon” Bill mused thoughtfully and Dipper sat up a little to look at him curiously. </p><p>“What do you mean?” He asked and Bill glanced away from the sky to look at him. </p><p>“Daylight is approaching and your sister has a tendency to wake you up whenever she wants” He explained and Dipper flopped back down as he huffed in understanding/agreement. </p><p>“Yeah she can be annoying like that” He grumbled and Bill chuckled in agreement as he sat up properly and crosses his legs. </p><p>“Enough lazing around there’s one more thing I’d like to teach you before you wake up” He instructed and Dipper hummed curiously as he sat up and mimicked Bill’s pose. </p><p>“This is something I should have told you about earlier but I had been focused on getting you used to the idea of magic that it escaped my notice” He explained and Dipper tilted his head curiously. </p><p>“What is it?” He asked and Bill gave him a rather serious look.</p><p>“I’ve been teaching you about different incantations but at the end of the day those words mean very little” He explained and Dipper’s eyes widened in shock. </p><p>“What do you mean?” He questioned as he leaned forward slightly. </p><p>“Magic is all about intent so as long as your intent is clear you can perform any number of spells without any fancy words” He explained and Dipper gasped a little. </p><p>“Then why have you been teaching me the words?” He asked confused and Bill hummed softly to himself. </p><p>“Using words is a great way for beginners to focus on what they're doing but I noticed today in the bunker that you’ve become reliant on those words which is my fault for not teaching you about intent so I’d like to nip that reliance in the bud” He explained and Dipper nodded in understanding.  </p><p>“So as long as I know what I want and focus on it I can perform any spell I want?” He asked and Bill nodded. </p><p>“Exactly, though you will still have difficulty with spells that don’t fit your cores leaning so don’t think if you focus hard enough you can just start flying” He said in amusement and Dipper grinned a little cheekily. </p><p>“I can learn to fly?” He asked and Bill chuckled as he reached forward and ruffled his hair affectionately. </p><p>“In time” He said in amusement and Dipper grinned brightly at the news. </p><p>“Though I must stress to you that ancient and powerful spells like the one you used to enter Stan’s mind will almost always need an incantation less you risk a rebound” He said seriously and Dipper’s smile disappeared as he nodded in understanding. </p><p>“What’s a rebound?” He asked softly and Bill hummed as he waved his hand and an image of a stereotypical wizard appeared in front of them. </p><p>“Rebounds are when a spell backfires on the caster, they have become less common as the years pass seeing as most magic-user nowadays focus on intent instead of long-winded incantations and rituals but they do still happen and they can be life-threatening” He explained as the image of the wizard suddenly burst into flames. Dipper’s eyes widened as he paled a little at the imagery. </p><p>“Could the spells I’ve been using cause that?” He asked worriedly and Bill was quick to give him a reassuring smile. </p><p>“No the spells you’ve been using are too basic to ever cause a rebound, your core wouldn’t allow it it’s too powerful” He said reassuringly and Dipper let out a relieved sigh. </p><p>“That’s good to know” He said in relief and Bill grinned in agreement. </p><p>“Now I’ll be busy for most of the day today so we won’t be able to do any training but if you get the chance I want you to practise using intent to perform spells instead of words” He announced as he stood up and Dipper pouted as he stood up as well. </p><p>“Alright” He said in disappointment earning him a chuckle from Bill as he reached over and ruffled his hair once again. </p><p>“Don’t worry Pinetree you’ll survive without my amazingness” He said cheekily and Dipper laughed as he shoved his hand away playfully. </p><p>“And remember, though I may not respond I’m always listening” He said softly as he pointed at Dipper’s ring who smiled warmly as he nodded. </p><p>“Of course” He said warmly and Bill smiled softly as the world around them started to get blurry. </p><p>“See you soon Pinetree” He said as he waved and Dipper gave him another smile before he finally woke. Bill hovered in the empty mindscape for a moment before leaving, he had work to do after all.</p>
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<a name="section0020"><h2>20. A Meeting of Demons</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Bill stalked down the corridor of his palace as he made his way to the meeting room where everyone was waiting, he had to keep them all informed on the progress of the plan even if every meeting left him with a massive headache. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Love the new look Bill! Very snazzy!” An excited voice remarked from above him and when he glanced up he saw Aris floating above him with a cheeky grin on their face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello, Aris” He greeted simply and they grinned as they landed next to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And in regards to my look I’m simply trying something new, it likely won’t be permanent” He said simply as he resumed walking and Aris pouted as they followed beside him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But you look so good!” They said childishly and Bill huffed fondly only to narrow his eyes slightly when he suddenly saw a mischievous smile appear on their face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Does the new look have anything to do with the little human you made a deal with? Ronnie has told me you’ve become quite infatuated with him” They said cheekily and Bill grumbled as he cursed out Pyronica for being such a gossip. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am not infatuated” He hissed and Aris grinned as they poked his cheek. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then why are you blushing?” He asked cheekily and Bill growled as he swatted their hand away. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I will murder you” He growled and Aris simply shrugged the smile on their face never faltering as the pink ring around their pupils practically glowed in their amusement. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No you won’t” He said simply and Bill grumbled even more to himself, if he wasn’t so fond of the mage and if Pyronica wasn’t one of his oldest companions he would have murdered them years ago for simply being too perceptive let alone annoying. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Anyways you have to introduce me to your little human, imagine all of the things I could teach him!” Aris remarked eagerly and Bill shuddered a little as he imagined what Aris and Dipper could do if they teamed up together. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not on your life” He snapped and Aris pouted as they let out a slightly childish sounding whine. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come on Bill you can’t deny me the chance to meet my star brother” He whined and Bill paused briefly as he glanced at Aris thoughtfully, his eyes staring straight at the Aries Constellation on the side of their neck. Maybe letting Dipper meet Aris wouldn’t be too bad he mused thoughtfully as he resumed walking. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll consider it” He said simply and Aris grinned brightly as they practically bounced alongside him. They came up to the meeting room where Pyronica was leaning against the wall next to the door waiting for them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There you are my little Ram I was wondering where you wandered off to, you haven’t been bothering Bill too much have you?” She asked in amusement as Aris bounced over and cuddled up next to her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I would never” They said sweetly with an innocent smile on their face which earned them a fond chuckled from Pyronica and a mildly annoyed eye roll from Bill. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello Pyronica, has everyone arrived?” He asked and she nodded as she wrapped her arm around Aris without much thought. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah their all just waiting for you, and fair warning their all kinda antsy seeing as this is the first real meeting you’ve called since… you know” She remarked and Bill grit his teeth a little as he nodded. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes well hopefully our plans don’t go quite off the rails like last time” He said simply and she nodded before opening the meeting door. She gave him another look before walking in with Aris, he took a deep breath before following behind them while hoping he wouldn’t get too big of a headache from this. </span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>Things went sour almost immediately and Bill wanted to kill at least half of the demons present, none of them seemed very keen on relying on a human after what happened last time and they were making their opinions very well known. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How can you guarantee that this human won’t be just like the last one!” Kryptos snapped angrily with a bunch of others shouting in agreement and Bill grit his teeth in frustration. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pinetree isn’t like him!” He said defensively as he stood from his chair with Kryptos following suit as he changed his form to be more humanoid so that Bill wouldn’t tower over him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not only do they share the same blood but he’s also one of those blasted Zodiacs! If anything he’s an even bigger threat!” He shouted back which insisted even more anger from the others. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We should take him out now before he grows too powerful” Teeth remarked and Bill felt flames flicker around him as his anger grew while a bunch of demons shouted their approval. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I believe the ship has sailed on that one” Aris remarked as they lounged in their chair seemingly uncaring but their eyes screamed with a certain level of darkness that put some of the weaker demons on edge.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And what’s that supposed to mean?” 8-Ball asked as he turned to look at Aris, he had been one of the few who hadn’t jumped on the bandwagon of killing Dipper so Aris gave him a smile as they explained. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dipper Pines is a child of the stars with a uniquely powerful core and under Bill’s tutelage, he has made leaps and bounds even faster than I did when I started learning under Pyronica” He revealed which earned shocked gasps from some of the demons and while Bill would love to know how Aris knew all of this he decided that that conversation could wait till later. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s stopping him from using what you’ve taught him against us once he learns what you plan to do?” Hectorgon asked seriously and Bill left shoulders untensed slightly as a faint smirk appeared on his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve been quite transparent with him of my intentions to cross over and he has proven himself loyal to me over his own family” He revealed which intrigued everyone, even Kryptos had untensed and looked rather curious. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How so?” He asked and Bill hummed as he showed them multiple scenes showcasing the divide in the Pines family, from relentless bullying, Stan’s apparent hatred of him and the confrontation with Mabel. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“His anger and hurt grows every day which strengths his trust and loyalty in me as I’m the first person to show him that he could be more than a spare” He remarked simply as he dismissed the images and gazed at everyone present, he took notice of how the pink ring around Aris’ eyes was flashing red and he realized that this was probably hitting a little to close to home for them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Darkness is growing in his heart and mind… I like him” Pyronica remarked with a smirk on her face while she subtly placed a comforting hand on Aris’ thigh. Bill huffed out a laugh as he shook his head in amusement. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t like relying on a human but I’ll trust you on this one Bill, </span>
  <em>
    <span>don’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> let it end up like last time” Kryptos said seriously and Bill nodded. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It won’t” He said strongly and Kryptos stared deeply into his eye for a moment before nodding and leaving the room, making the decision that the meeting was over and a few others hesitated before following after him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I hate meetings” Bill grumbled as he flopped back down onto his chair and rubbed at his face tiredly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Agreed” Aris hummed as they leaned their head onto Pyronica’s shoulder, usually, they loved messing with the others during meetings but this one just put him on edge. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I would keep an eye on your Pinetree Bill, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the more aggressive demons might still try and attack him” Pyronica said seriously and Bill nodded as a dangerous glint appeared in his eye. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I will” He said seriously as he glared at the wall as he imaged the different types of brutal tortures he would put anyone who dared hurt his Pinetree through. </span>
</p>
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